THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


x-r^ 


"STARTS  US  ON  OUR  JOURNEY  AND  THE  BEGINNING  OF  OUR  LITTLE 
WORLD  OF  "WARFARE." 


IN  CAMP  WITH 


L  COMPANY 


Second  Regiment 
New  Jersey  Volunteer  Infantry 


BY 


CORPORAL  GEORGE  W.  PETTY 


WYNKOOP   HALLENBKCK   CRAWFORD   CO. 

PRINTERS 
NEW   YORK   AND   ALBANY 


To  the  officers,  and  the  men  in  the  ranks,  of 
my  company,  and  to  the  memory  of  departed 
comrades,  this  book  is  respectfully  dedicated. 

THE  AUTHOR 


550350 


"  God  of  all  nations!     Sovereign  Lord! 
In  Thy  dread  name  we  draw  the  sword 
We  lift  the  starry  flag  on  high 
That  fills  with  light  our  stormy  sky." 


PREFACE 

otjfc 

¥N  writing  this  book  it  has  not  been  my 
purpose  to  compile  a  history  of  our  Com- 
pany, which  would  necessitate  the  gathering 
together  of  its  records,  which  of  themselves 
would  be  dry  and  uninteresting  to  the  average 
reader,  but  such  a  narrative  as  would  give  to 
our  friends  a  wider  knowledge  of  our  every- 
day life  while  in  the  service,  and  to  my  com- 
rades that  feeling  of  kinship  so  dear  to  the 
soldier's  heart. 


PART  FIRST 


THE  MUSTERING 
Jk  &  j* 

/COMPANY  L  was  organized  and  mustered 
into  the  State  service  June  22,  1893,  and 
assigned  as  the  nth  company  of  the  Second 
Regiment  with  headquarters  at  Paterson,  with 
the  following  officers:  Addison  Ely,  Captain; 
Wilkin  Bookstaver,  First  Lieutenant;  Joseph 
J.  Blake,  Second  Lieutenant.  Lieutenant 
Bookstaver  resigned  in  February,  1896,  Lieu- 
tenant Blake  was  promoted  to  First  Lieuten- 
ant and  First  Sergeant  Robert  A.  Brunner  was 
promoted  to  Second  Lieutenant.  From  its 
first  season  at  rifle  practice  the  Company  was  a 
decided  factor  in  the  making  up  of  the  State 
records;  the  first  year,  out  of  fifty-six  com- 
panies it  stood  sixth,  in  1895  it  was  fourth  and 
in  1897  second  on  the  list  with  ten  sharp- 
shooters and  fifty-eight  marksmen,  pushing 
Company  C  of  Paterson  hard  for  first  honors, 
that  company  having  twelve  sharpshooters 
and  sixty  marksmen.  A  match  was  arranged 


10 

in  the  fall  of  '97  between  the  companies  com- 
posing the  Second  Battalion,  E,  F,  G  and  L, 
ten  men  constituting  a  team;  this  match  we 
won  handily. 

Matches  between  the  squads  proved  excit- 
ing and  interesting,  the  prize  being  a  silver 
loving  cup  donated  by  Lieutenant  Brunner. 
Our  range  being  on  the  meadows  not  only  in- 
sured safety,  but  was  actually  one  of  the  best 
ranges  used  by  any  Company  in  the  State. 
Our  discipline  was  excellent  and  our  annual 
inspection  invariably  showed  100  per  cent. 
The  armory  was  built  during  the  winter  of 
1896-7,  and  was  formally  opened  in  March, 
1897,  with  a  grand  fair  which  was  honored  by 
a  visit  of  Governor  Griggs  and  a  large  number 
of  military  and  civic  officers.  It  cost  about 
$20,000,  and  contains,  besides  a  large  drill- 
room,  a  well  appointed  stage,  meeting  rooms 
and  living  apartments. 

During  the  winter  of  1897-8  particular  at- 
tention was  given  to  Regimental,  Battalion 
and  Company  drills  in  extended  order  and 
when  spring  opened  and  the  mutterings  of  war 
were  heard,  the  Company  had  been  drilled 


II 

quite  thoroughly  in  battle  exercises,  and  an 
enthusiasm  had  been  instilled,  so  that  every 
man  was  on  his  mettle.  It  was  natural,  then, 
that  when  the  orders  came  the  Company  was 
enabled  to  turn  out  a  larger  percentage  ot 
National  Guardsmen  than  any  other  Company 
in  the  regiment.  The  personnel  of  the  entire 
body  insured  an  honorable  mention  in  the 
State  annals.  Our  officers  were  capable  and 
well  liked ;  and  the  non-commissioned  officers, 
that  body  of  men  in  our  armies  which  are  the 
fighting  unit,  were  a  potent  factor  in  our  make 
up.  How  well  these  officers  and  subs  did 
their  duty  the  records  of  details,  escorts,  pro- 
vost guards,  etc.,  will  show. 

April  30,  1898,  the  orders  we  had  been  ex- 
pecting arrived  and  from  this  time  on  a  ner- 
vous excitement  prevailed  in  the  armory 
and  spread  for  miles  around.  Final  visits 
were  made;  business  affairs  wound  up;  under- 
clothing bought,  and  when  Sunday  evening 
arrived  it  found  us  all  ready  to  start.  During 
the  night  the  telegraph  ticked  off  the  rumors 
of  the  battle  in  Manila  harbor,  and  at  dawn 
all  the  country  was  aflame  with  patriotism 


12 

and  eager  to  know  the  facts.  Every  hour 
brought  fresh  tidings  of  that  grand  victory 
and  it  was  with  lighter  hearts  and  more  cheer- 
ful faces  that  we  set  about  our  final  task. 

Everywhere  now  was  bustle  and  excitement, 
but  it  was  freely  predicted  that  we  would  not 
get  further  than  Sea  Girt,  and  we  heard  this 
repeated  so  often  that  we  began  to  be  rather 
anxious  to  be  off,  as  if  afraid  the  war  would 
end  before  we  had  fairly  got  in  it.  The  time 
to  don  our  war  togs  came  at  last;  mothers, 
sisters  and  sweethearts  were  given  final  in- 
junctions not  to  worry,  just  as  if  we  expected 
they  would  obey,  and  then  we  repaired  to  the 
armory,  where  the  excitement  was  at  fever 
heat  and  the  crowd  of  sightseers  outside 
pushed  and  swayed,  the  boys  were  impatient 
to  be  off.  The  clear  notes  of  the  bugle  sound 
the  assembly.  The  command  to  fall  in  is 
given.  The  drill-room  is  hushed,  but  the  ex- 
citement is  still  there.  Impatient  commands 
are  given  and  finally  the  sharp  command, 
"March!"  starts  us  on  our  journey  and  the 
beginning  of  our  little  world  of  warfare. 

But  bedlam  had  broken  loose.     Steadily  we 


13 

marched  out  of  the  doorway,  only  to  face  a 
great  crowd.  Our  feelings  were  various  at  this 
time,  I  doubt  not.  Personally  I  wanted  to  get 
away  from  that  crowd  and  felt  angry  that  they 
should  be  cheering  so,  not  daring  to  look 
aside,  but  deaf  to  all  the  shouts  of  encourage- 
ment. I  was  fully  realizing  the  fact  that  it 
was  not  such  a  fine  thing  to  leave  home  and 
friends  for  a  perilous  two  years  of  strife  and 
bloodshed.  Finally  reaching  the  station  by  a 
circuitous  route,  we  waited  fully  an  hour  for 
the  train.  This  was  extremely  trying  to  us, 
but  amid  an  outburst  of  cheers  we  boarded  it 
bound  for  camp,  and  now  our  spirits  rose,  for 
we  were  off,  and  instead  of  looking  behind  it 
was  forward,  and  we  determined  then  and  there 
to  make  the  best  of  everything  as  we  found  it, 
and  that  duty  in  its  plainest,  boldest  light 
lay  before  us,  and  now  was  the  time  to  begin. 
Our  officers  and  non-coms  were  hurrying 
through  the  cars,  making  up  lists,  detailing 
guards,  making  assignments.  Every  engine 
we  passed  saluted  us  with  deafening  screeches; 
factory,  street  and  doorway  contributed  their 
share  of  waving  handkerchiefs  and  cheering 


14 

crowds,  the  streets  of  Newark  near  the  station 
were  packed  with  people,  and  so  the  patriotism 
followed  us  all  the  way  to  Sea  Girt,  which  was 
reached  at  four  in  the  evening. 

Immediately  disembarking,  we  formed 
rapidly  and  marched  to  the  camp  grounds, 
passing  in  review  before  the  Governor.  This 
was  my  first  view  of  the  War  Man  of  our 
State.  Standing  upon  a  horse  block  in  front 
of  the  White  House  with  uncovered  head  and 
a  sober,  serious  countenance,  Governor  Voor- 
hees  impressed  me  with  the  belief  that  he,  at 
least,  felt  the  full  responsibility  of  his  position. 
Well  and  nobly  did  he  fill  it.  From  Trenton 
he  brought  his  headquarters  to  Sea  Girt  and 
there  he  stayed  until  he  saw  the  last  regiment 
depart  for  the  south,  having  ceaselessly  urged 
forward  equipments,  personally  looked  after 
the  comfort  of  the  men,  taken  a  deep  and 
thoughtful  interest  in  all  our  surroundings, 
and  finally  bid  us  Godspeed  upon  our  journey, 
a  loyal,  devout  patriot. 

As  we  marched  to  our  streets  ominous  mut- 
terings  and  black  storm  clouds  in  the  west 
warned  us  to  get  sheltered  as  quickly  as  pos- 


15 

sible;  and  at  the  word,  ranks  were  broken  and 
a  wild  scramble  for  tents  began;  but  we  were 
soon  roused  out  again  to  get  sacks  of  straw 
to  sleep  upon.  This  news  was  comforting,  for 
the  fresh  green  sod,  still  moist  from  recent 
rains,  was  anything  but  inviting.  The  sacks 
were  intended  for  two  battalions.  Our  battal- 
ion was  to  have  had  cots.  There  was  con- 
siderable confusion  and  orders  got  mixed,  so 
we  sailed  in  with  the  other  fellows  to  get 
sacks.  These  were  stored  at  the  rear  of  the 
mess  houses  about  200  yards  back  of  the 
camp.  Eight  hundred  men  got  the  order  at 
the  same  time  and  all  made  a  dash  for  the  pile. 
The  sacks  were  about  seven  feet  long  and  it 
was  a  most  ludicrous  spectacle  to  see  the  men 
dragging  these  clumsy  things  after  them. 
The  field  seemed  alive  with  great  brown  ants 
crawling  after  each  man.  The  boys  enjoyed 
the  fun  greatly.  Guards  were  being  posted 
and  we  soon  made  ready  for  the  night.  While 
the  blankets  were  being  issued  it  commenced 
to  rain ;  and  after  eating  the  last  crust  of  bread 
we  had  brought  from  home,  we  turned  in  and 
slept  soundly. 


i6 

Tuesday  we  received  cots,  while  those  tents 
which  could  boast  of  floors  were  given  the 
sacks. 

The  rations  or  "  grub  "  served  the  first  day 
consisted  of  a  small  piece  of  steak  and  a  whole 
loaf  of  bread.  The  bread  broken  in  half  with 
the  meat  between  would  make  a  home  made 
sandwich  that  could  be  eaten  on  the  install- 
ment plan.  The  loaf  was  our  allowance  of 
bread  for  the  day.  Coffee  of  rather  doubtful 
quality  was  served,  also  one  whole  boiled 
potato,  and  some  of  them  appeared  to  have 
grown  for  a  couple  of  years.  This  breakfast 
was  duplicated  every  day  during  the  week. 
At  dinner  the  meat  ration  was  varied  by  bacon, 
liver  or  fish. 

Mustering  officers  and  surgeons  were  very 
busy  all  the  time,  and  companies  of  the  First 
and  Third  were  constantly  passing  our  tents, 
to  and  from  the  mustering  field.  Orders  were 
received  to  hurry  up  the  mustering  of  the 
Second  Regiment.  Rumor  had  it  that  we 
were  to  go  to  Washington  in  a  few  days,  the 
Third  to  stay  and  the  First  to  go  to  Chicka- 
mauga  Park  to  act  with  the  Regulars  in  the 


17 

contemplated  invasion  of  Cuba.  During  the 
week  the  showers  and  wet  fields  kept  us  con- 
tinually indoors  and  the  first  Sunday  in  camp 
it  rained  a  flood.  The  streets  were  turned  into 
quagmires  and  every  now  and  then  the  slip- 
slop of  some  soldier  passing  the  tent  made  the 
situation  all  the  more  gloomy. 

Detailed  news  of  Commodore  Dewey's  vic- 
tory in  Manila  harbor  reached  us  Sunday 
morning.  The  completeness  of  it,  with  such 
slight  injury  to  ourselves,  was  pronounced  as 
marvelous  and  cheering  broke  through  the 
sodden  air,  stirring  the  dripping  camp  to  life 
and  action. 

This  day  was  my  initiation  as  Corporal  in 
Guard  Mounting  and,  although  the  Junior 
Corporal  present,  I  was  detailed  to  take  out 
the  first  relief.  It  rained  incessantly  and  at 
nine  in  the  evening  the  guard  was  dismissed. 
My  face  then  was  quite  numb  from  exposure. 
At  three  o'clock  the  next  morning  the  guard 
resumed  its  duty. 

The  second  week  turned  out  to  be  a  pretty 
stiff  one  for  drills,  the  weather  being  less  wet. 
Friday,  May  I3th,  we  were  examined  by  Sur- 


i8 

geon  Brien  of  our  Regiment  and  all  but  four 
passed.  One  man  failed  to  report;  he  had  left 
camp  for  home.  In  the  evening  G  Company 
started  out  with  fife  and  drum  to  have  a  good 
time.  They  carried  nearly  the  whole  Battalion 
with  them  to  the  quarters  of  the  commanding 
officers,  who  were  repeatedly  called  out  and 
made  short  speeches  amid  much  cheering, 
after  which  the  boys  paraded  through  the 
camp.  They  were  received  with  considerable 
enthusiasm  in  every  street.  The  escapade 
proved  welcome,  for  it  diverted  our  thoughts 
from  the  weather. 

I  had  been  temporarily  assigned  to  the 
Quartermaster's  Department  shortly  after  our 
arrival  at  camp  and  was  kept  quite  busy  all 
the  time  making  up  schedules  of  equipments 
for  each  Regiment,  and  these  were  completed 
only  within  a  few  days  of  our  departure 
south.  Col.  George  G.  Felton,  Deputy  Quar- 
termaster-General, was  in  charge  and  was  a 
most  efficient  officer.  His  department  was  a 
hive  of  industry,  unloading  cars,  filling  quotas, 
making  out  lists  and  distributing  to  the  regi- 
ments, and  when  everything  had  been  supplied 


SEA  GIRT,  N.  J.,  MAY,   1898. 


19 

he  viewed  with  satisfaction  as  well  an  equipped 
force  as  ever  entered  the  volunteer  service  of 
the  United  States. 

While  serving  here  I  missed  a  number  of 
marches  the  Company  participated  in,  the 
most  notable  being  the  march  along  the  beach 
and  through  the  thick  woods  and  swamps, 
ending  with  a  vigorous  charge  over  the  sand 
hills  bordering  the  ocean. 

The  manual  of  arms  used  by  the  National 
Guard  was  abruptly  changed  to  conform  to 
the  army  manual  and  this  change  was  brought 
about  in  an  incredibly  short  time  under  the 
able  instruction  of  our  First  Lieutenant,  and 
the  movements  were  executed  with  marked 
precision.  Considerable  attention  was  given 
to  setting  up  exercises  as  practiced  by  the 
United  States  Army,  so  that  we  became  quite 
proficient  in  the  simpler  movements.  Though 
not  having  enough  clear  days  to  go  more 
deeply  into  the  more  difficult  exercises,  the 
Regiment  in  companies  would  be  at  times 
seen  on  the  field  and  it  proved  quite  an  inter- 
esting sight. 

The  interesting  ceremony  of  transforming 


20 

us  into  soldiers  of  the  United  States  Army 
occurred  on  Saturday  afternoon,  May  I4th, 
before  a  large  crowd  of  excursionists.  Cap- 
tain Ely  being  absent,  Lieutenant  Blake 
formed  the  Company  a  little  after  noon  and 
marched  us  to  the  front  of  the  mustering  tent. 
Upon  the  arrival  of  the  Captain  the  ceremony 
proceeded. 

As  our  names  were  called  we  formed  in 
double  time  to  the  right  of  the  officer,  the  Ser- 
geants and  Corporals  making  the  alignment. 
This  was  to  prove  our  actual  presence.  The 
names  were  again  called.  This  time  the 
officers  formed  the  first  line,  the  non-commis- 
sioned officers  the  second,  and  the  balance,  the 
third  line,  in  company  formation.  An  oppor- 
tunity to  withdraw  was  then  given,  the  penal- 
ties for  disobedience,  desertion  and  other 
crimes  enumerated  in  the  articles  of  war  were 
explained.  He  then  ordered  us  to  take  off 
our  caps,  raise  our  right  hands  and  swear  to 
uphold  the  Government,  fight  all  its  enemies 
and  be  true  soldiers  of  the  United  States,  "  so 
help  me  God."  The  Regiment  was  mustered 
the  next  day. 


21 

The  First  Regiment  received  its  marching 
orders  May  i6th  and  on  the  iQth  we  were 
formed  to  escort  this  finely  equipped  Regi- 
ment to  the  station.  They  were  bound  for 
Camp  Alger,  near  Washington,  D.  C.  It  was 
believed  at  the  time  that  this  Regiment  was  to 
go  to  Cuba  with  the  first  invading  army  and 
it  was  with  intense  interest  that  we  watched 
these  stalwart  men,  most  of  them  of  Irish  fight- 
ing stock,  loaded  down  with  their  equipments 
march  silently  past.  We  gave  them  a  cheer 
and  a  Godspeed  as  their  train  drew  out.  The 
episode  sent  us  back  to  camp  thinking  hard 
over  the  uncertainties  of  life  and  what  was  to 
be  the  outcome  of  the  war. 

Up  to  this  time  the  wet  weather  had  made 
Sunday  services  impossible,  but  Sunday,  May 
2  ist,  was  a  grand  day  and  after  inspection  of 
quarters  the  men  of  the  Second  and  Third 
Regiments  assembled  on  the  lawn  at  the 
White  House,  while  flags  gayly  fluttered, 
visitors  arriving  in  their  best  attire,  carriages 
and  bicycles  on  the  outskirts,  with  the  ever- 
present  green  sward  as  a  background  stretch- 
ing down  to  the  sea,  made  a  memorable  pic- 


22 

ture  and  as  the  Governor  stepped  from  the 
threshold  of  his  cottage  he  could  not  but 
admire  the  pretty  scene. 

He  motioned  that  his  chair  should  be  placed 
in  the  midst  of  "  his  boys  "  instead  of  a  more 
favorable  position  but  apart  from  them.  He 
took  a  lively  interest  in  the  service  and  sang 
"  Onward  Christian  Soldiers  "  with  as  much 
vim  as  anybody.  Chaplain  Glazbrook  of  the 
Third  early  interested  his  hearers  by  citing 
during  his  discourse  an  ancient  fable  of  an 
invincible,  conquering  warrior  and  his  ulti- 
mate end. 

As  far  as  appearances  went,  the  last  week 
in  camp  turned  us  all  into  sure  enough  sol- 
diers, having  been  fully  equipped  for  field  ser- 
vice. The  distributing  of  underwear  and 
clothing  was  unique  in  its  way.  Our  Quarter- 
master took  my  measure:  For  blouse,  36- 
inch;  for  trousers,  32-inch  x  3O-inch.  This  is 
what  was  issued  to  me:  Blouse,  38-inch; 
trousers,  34-inch  x  31 -inch;  blue  shirt,  15^- 
inch;  shoes,  nothing  smaller  than  8  or  9. 
After  much  protesting  I  finally  consented  to 
take  the  above  to  be  exchanged  later.  That 


23 

later  never  came.  Our  Uncle  Sammy  evi- 
dently believed  in  giving  all  his  soldier  boys 
plenty  of  room  for  development. 

Each  Company  now  had  a  cooking  arrange- 
ment, known  as  a  "  Buzzacott,"  invented  by 
a  private  of  that  name  in  the  Regular  Army. 
It  consisted  of  a  number  of  flat  bars  of  iron 
welded  together  and  resting  on  legs  one  foot 
from  the  ground  and  so  joined  together  as  to 
fold  up  or  take  apart  as  necessity  demanded, 
the  whole  arrangement  making  a  gridiron 
about  two  feet  wide  by  four  feet  long  when  in 
use;  one  field  desk  and  cooking  utensils,  while 
each  man  was  provided  with  one  suit  of  under- 
wear, socks,  blue  shirt,  trousers  and  blouse 
of  state  uniform,  campaign  hat,  web  cartridge 
belt,  Springfield  rifle,  leggings,  kit — viz,  one 
each  combination  frying  pan  and  plate,  knife, 
fork,  tablespoon  and  cup — haversack,  knap- 
sack, poncho,  blanket  and  canteen.  This  out- 
fit would  become  complete  when  we  received 
fifty  rounds  of  ammunition  and  it  was  just 
about  as  much  as  we  could  stagger  under. 

Manasquan  had  always  been  an  enticing 
place  even  during  our  short  stay  at  camp  for 


24 

rifle  practice  in  former  years  and  it  became 
doubly  so  now  as  the  boys  formed  acquain- 
tances there,  and  notwithstanding  the  orders, 
guard  running  was  becoming  quite  an  art  and 
up  to  this  time  had  been  very  successful,  so 
when  an  order  was  read  at  dress  parade  pre- 
scribing penalties  relating  to  this  subject  there 
were  many  long  faces  in  the  ranks.  These 
penalties  were  graded  according  to  the 
seriousness  of  the  offense :  guard  house  one  to 
six  days,  ditto  on  bread  and  water;  again  for 
absence  without  leave,  "Carrying  a  forty 
pound  pack  six  hours  a  day  for  four  days." 
The  guilty  ones  were  often  seen  fore  and  aft 
of  a  wagon  bringing  sand  from  the  beach  for 
the  low  places  in  "  Shoulder  Strap  row  "  and 
doing  other  "  chores." 

The  sentries  were  given  strict  orders  to  pre- 
vent this  running  out  at  night  and  the  bayonet 
was  sometimes  used  with  disagreeable  effect. 
The  bands  of  discipline  were  tightened  and 
the  Regiment  took  a  great  brace.  The 
parades  were  superb  and  brought  crowds  from 
all  the  nearby  towns,  and  now  that  the  sun 
shone  the  parade  ground  was  a  beautiful  sight, 


25 

stretching  down  to  the  sea  with  its  hundreds 
of  tents  laid  out  in  strict  accordance  to  regu- 
lations. 

Tent  pitching  and  striking  was  practiced  at 
every  favorable  opportunity  and  was  under 
the  charge  of  a  line  officer,  each  Company 
detail  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  its 
Artificer,  assisted  by  the  Sergeants  and  Cor- 
porals. 

Thursday,  May  25th,  we  formed  for  escort 
of  the  Third  Regiment.  We  had  a  different 
feeling  this  time,  more  of  sympathy  than  other- 
wise, for  they  were  to  do  garrison  duty  at  Fort 
Hancock,  Sandy  Hook  fortifications  and  at 
Pompton  Plains  to  guard  the  powder  mills 
there.  It  rained  hard  at  midnight  just  as  each 
section  was  disembarking  at  its  destination. 
The  Fort  Hancock  detail  had  a  particularly 
sorry  time  of  it  after  leaving  the  cars. 

Monday,  May  3Oth,  was  observed  as  a  holi- 
day and  enough  men  were  gotten  together  to 
form  a  battalion  for  the  purpose  of  assisting 
the  G.  A.  R.  at  their  services  in  Manasauan. 
This  battalion  was  composed  entirely  of  the 
Sons  of  Veterans  of  the  Civil  War  and  was  a 


26 

striking  example  of  how  fighting  blood  runs 
down  through  generations.  That  evening  we 
had  parade  and  review  before  the  Governor. 
A  telegram  from  the  War  Department  was 
read  in  orders  directing  the  Regiment  to  pro- 
ceed at  once  to  Chickamauga  Park. 

This  order  was  the  prevailing  topic  of  con- 
versation for  the  rest  of  the  evening.  During 
the  night  long  trains  of  cars  arrived,  but  not- 
withstanding the  nearness  of  our  departure 
for  the  actual  seat  of  war,  and  Chickamauga 
was  recognized  as  only  a  stepping  stone  to 
Tampa,  where  the  invading  army  was  gather- 
ing, we  slept  soundly  and  peacefully.  Such 
was  the  effect  of  the  fresh  salt  breezes  from 
the  ocean  and  the  outdoor  life  that  in  one 
short  month  our  nervous  systems  had  been 
completely  renovated,  and  exciting  events 
could  not  make  any  inroads  upon  our  time  for 
repose,  but  we  always  rose  fresh  and  bright  at 
daylight,  ready  for  the  day's  drills  and  exer- 
cises. Tuesday  broke  bright  and  clear  and 
found  most  of  our  "  traps  "  packed  and  await- 
ing final  orders.  I  hastily  arranged  to  take 
a  night  at  home.  All  furloughs  had  been 


27 

stopped,  but  mine  was,  "managed"  with  a  few 
others,  thanks  to  our  commanding  officer. 
After  visiting  everybody  we  could  in  the  short 
time  allotted  to  us  we  started  for  camp  again 
Wednesday  morning.  Arriving  there  at  noon, 
we  found  all  the  tents  down,  baggage  being 
packed  and  the  men  sitting  on  their  knap- 
sacks eating  hard  tack.  A  few  lucky  ones 
were  eating  sandwiches. 

There  was  work  ahead  for  me,  however,  and 
I  was  soon  assisting  on  the  Company  rolls, 
which  were  being  made  up  for  (as  we  thought) 
State  pay.  While  this  was  going  on  the  Com- 
pany was  marched  out  and  photographed.  It 
was  a  good  picture,  but  unfortunately  the  Cap- 
tain and  a  number  of  men  were  left  out,  owing 
to  absence  on  details.  The  sun  shone  from  an 
unclouded  sky  and  with  direct  fierceness  as  if 
to  atone  for  its  shyness  for  the  past  four  weeks. 
Everything  now  being  ready,  tents  and  bag- 
gage loaded,  we  marched  out  in  heavy  march- 
ing order  and  were  again  photographed. 
Orders  now  arrived  rapidly  and  we  were  soon 
forming  for  a  final  review  before  the  Governor. 

Crowds  had  come  down  to  see  us  off,  and 


28 

many  were  the  tearful  farewells  and  hand- 
shakes. But  what  a  load  our  equipments 
made.  We  had  discarded  all  the  comforts  and 
a  great  many  things  we  believed  we  could  do 
without,  but  still  there  was  an  immense  dead 
weight  in  those  knapsacks  and  the  tinkling 
cups  dangling  from  our  haversacks  added  to 
this  discomfort.  The  repeated  warnings  and 
commands  of  "close  up,  close  up,"  caused  the 
men,  heavily  loaded  as  they  were,  to  jostle 
each  other  while  the  veins  in  their  foreheads 
stood  out  like  whip  cords.  The  tremendous 
physical  strain,  together  with  the  heat,  made 
this  a  never-to-be  forgotten  march,  and  was 
only  equalled  by  the  celebrated  "  dust  march  " 
at  the  end  of  our  journey.  With  very  little 
delay  we  boarded  our  section  and  with  many  a 
frantic  farewell  we  started  on  our  long  and 
eventful  journey  to  the  land  of  palms  and  soft 
breezes. 


PART  SECOND 


THE  JOURNEY  SOUTH 

jfc  jt  jt, 

A  T  three  thirty  in  the  afternoon,  June  2d, 
1898,  we  pulled  out  of  the  station  at  Sea 
Girt  and  immediately  proceeded  to  make  our- 
selves as  comfortable  as  possible.  Each  man 
had  a  seat  to  himself,  these  being  of  the  low 
backed  variety.  Our  equipments  we  hung 
on  the  package  racks,  and  they  jangled 
and  banged  with  every  movement  of  the 
car.  We  had  hardly  gotten  settled  in  our 
seats  when  we  became  aware  that  the 
population  all  along  our  route  had  turned 
out  to  see  us,  and  every  little  cross  road  had 
its  group  of  farm  wagons  and  country  people, 
who  had  been  there  for  hours,  and  cheered 
us  as  we  passed.  Our  journey  became  a 
continual  ovation,  which  reached  its  height 
as  we  swung  past  Monmouth  Junction.  At 
this  place  occurred  the  most  touching  sight  it 
was  my  fortune  to  witness  during  our  eventful 
journey.  As  we  drew  near  the  station  a  series 


32 

of  whistles  brought  every  head  in  the  car  to- 
the  window.  Every  doorstep,  garden  and 
fence  had  its  waving  flag.  The  school  chil- 
dren had  been  dismissed  and  had  marched  in 
a  body  to  the  long  freight  platform  at  the 
depot.  Along  the  whole  front  of  this  line  of 
children  was  stretched  the  national  colors, 
while  from  their  hands  waved  the  Emblem  of 
Guardianship  to  our  homes  and  little  ones,  and 
tiny  voices  were  singing  patriotic  songs.  Up 
to  this  time  I  had  been  skeptical  of  the  patri- 
otism of  our  people,  believing  that  the  en- 
thusiasm heretofore  witnessed  was  merely  a 
personal  feeling,  but  here  were  people  utter 
strangers  to  us,  bringing  their  children.  And 
why?  Evidently  to  instill  in  their  young  minds 
that  love  of  country  which  they  themselves 
had  and  for  which  many  of  them  had  suffered 
a  generation  ago.  All  this  burst  upon  me 
with  indescribable  rapidity  and  I  know  that  I 
was  not  the  only  one  in  that  car  who  had 
something  in  his  throat  which  he  did  not  like 
to  speak  of.  Shortly  after  we  struck  the  main 
line  of  the  P.  &  R.  R.  R.  We  reached  Trenton 
at  five  o'clock  and  crossed  the  Delaware.  We 


33 

were  now  going  through  a  section  much 
travelled  over  by  the  opposing  forces  in  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and  now  occurred  an  alto- 
gether surprising  and  somewhat  touching  in- 
cident. My  tent-mate  and  I  being  seated  oppo- 
site each  other  were  admiring  the  scenery;  we 
had  lost  our  bearings  somewhat  and  had  only 
a  faint  idea  as  to  where  we  were,  when  the 
train  suddenly  emerged  from  the  hills  and  pre- 
sented before  us  a  most  beautiful  landscape. 
He  immediately  recognized  it  as  the  fertile  and 
rich  Chester  Valley.  He  had  lived  in  this 
valley  until  he  was  nineteen  years  of  age  and 
became  quite  excited  as  he  found  we  would 
pass  the  threshold  of  his  home,  where  he  had 
left  his  mother,  brothers  and  sisters  the  week 
before.  He  knew  all  the  points  of  interest. 
On  the  ridge  yonder  was  Washington's  head- 
quarters where  his  shoeless  army  shivered  and 
shook  in  their  tattered  garments  at  Valley 
Forge  during  the  winter  of  1777-8.  The 
remarkably  clear  atmosphere  enabled  the 
General  with  his  glasses  to  sweep  the  valley 
for  twenty  miles.  How  many  anxious  glances 
he  must  have  given  in  the  direction  of  Phila- 


34 

delphia.  A  short  distance  farther  on  we 
crossed  the  Brandywine,  that  memorable 
stream  on  which  the  disastrous  battle  was 
fought  and  Philadelphia  was  laid  open  to  the 
enemy.  There  was  the  stone  dwelling1  in 
which  the  British  General  Gage,  of  Bunker 
Hill  fame,  was  when  the  information  was 
brought  him  of  the  band  of  Patriots  sleep- 
ing peacefully  around  some  hay  ricks  at 
Paoli,  which  resulted  in  their  surprise  and 
massacre.  Then  we  approached  his  home 
and  he  looked  eagerly  to  see  if  any 
one  was  around  the  house,  but  there  was  no 
one.  The  carpenter  shop  in  which  he  had 
learned  his  trade  was  pointed  out.  We  passed 
Phoenixville  and  my  enthusiastic  friend  kept 
naming  over  the  villages,  and  often  the  names 
of  householders  within  several  miles  of  his 
old  home.  Lime  of  the  best  quality  is  found 
in  the  soil  of  this  valley  and  accounts  for  the 
fertility  of  it.  The  sun  now  began  to  sink  in 
a  blaze  of  gold  and  about  eight  in  the  evening 
we  drew  into  Harrisburg. 

Harrisburg  is  noted  far  and  wide  for  its 
steel  and  iron  industries,  and  it  was  a  most 


35 

interesting  sight  to  see  the  tall  chimneys  along 
the  approach  to  the  city  vomiting  forth 
columns  of  flame  high  in  the  air,  lighting  the 
whole  neighborhood,  while  inside  the  foun- 
dries great  masses  of  red  hot  metal  glowed 
and  sparkled  while  going  through  the  molding 
process.  But  we  never  dreamed  there  were 
so  many  pretty  girls  there,  in  fact  we  were 
literally  besieged  as  soon  as  our  section  ar- 
rived in  the  car  sheds.  Our  officers  were  very 
positive  in  their  order  that  no  one  should  leave 
the  cars,  so  we  had  to  look  cheerful  while  a 
fellow  from  some  other  Company  walked  off 
with  the  girl  who  had  turned  up  such  a 
bewitching,  beseeching  face  for  "  just  a  little 
button."  The  boys  from  eleven  companies  of 
the  Regiment  had  a  mighty  good  time  while 
we  were  waiting  here,  but  some  of  the  girls 
didn't  mind  being  pulled  up  to  a  window  and 
paying  a  forfeit  as  long  as  they  got  the  button, 
and  when  the  trains  finally  drew  out  again  the 
boys  of  Company  L  had  quite  pleasant  dreams 
of  the  Harrisburg  girls.  We  had  been  wait- 
ing here  for  about  two  hours  when  our  Junior 
Lieutenant  came  into  the  car  and  with  a  cheer- 


36 

fully  serious  face  announced :  "  Well  boys  we 
are  in  for  it  now;  we  are  bound  for  Jackson- 
ville, Florida."  I  think  an  electric  current 
must  have  passed  through  the  car  at  that 
instant,  everybody  jumped  out  of  their  seats 
so  quickly.  Jacksonville  and  Tampa  were 
about  the  same  in  our  minds.  It  seems  that 
Chickamauga  Park  was  filling  too  rapidly  with 
troops  and  transportation  was  getting  clogged; 
hence  the  switching  us  off  to  the  south.  It 
was  estimated  that  we  had  gone  about  three 
hundred  miles  out  of  our  way.  About  eleven 
o'clock  we  drew  out  of  Harrisburg,  taps  were 
sounded  through  the  trains  and  all  lights  wen. 
extinguished.  We  found  that  the  only  way  of 
taking  a  comfortable  sleep  was  as  follows: 
The  back  of  one  seat  was  swung  upright  and 
held  in  position  by  our  rifles  placed  under  one 
end;  we  then  took  out  each  seat  and  placed 
them  crosswise;  the  lower  ends  would  be 
under  the  upright  backs.  This  gave  us  room 
to  stretch  ourselves  at  full  length,  and  by  put- 
ting our  blankets  under  our  heads  for  a 
pillow  we  managed  to  sleep  fairly  well.  We 
arrived  in  Washington  during  the  early  hours 


'NEGRO  LOG  CABIN,  "WITH  ITS  TEN  BY  TEN  GARDEN  PATCH  OF 
CORN;  AND  PEANUTS." 


37 

of  the  morning  and  were  awakened  by  the 
train  starting  out  again  at  daylight.  We 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  monument  and  the 
dome  of  the  Capitol  as  we  were  rushed  across 
the  Potomac.  In  Alexandria,  the  town  made 
famous  in  1861  by  the  tragic  death  of  Colonel 
Ellsworth,  the  white  people  were  still  sleeping 
and  only  stray  negroes  were  out  to  see  us 
pass.  We  skirted  the  Potomac  for  some 
miles,  when  we  turned  westward  and  south- 
ward. At  Widewater  we  stopped  for  water 
and  I  plucked  two  daisies  from  Virginia  soil 
and  sent  them  home  in  a  letter.  This  section 
of  country  which  we  traversed  was  as  desolate 
and  uncultivated  a  region  as  I  ever  want  to 
see.  It  was  totally  unexpected  and  wholly  dis- 
appointing. Vast  fields  in  Virginia  appeared 
as  if  the  growing  of  grass  was  a  hardship. 
Here  and  there  a  negro's  log  cabin,  with  its 
ten  by  ten  garden  of  dwarf  corn,  with  perhaps 
a  bed  of  peanuts  or  sweet  potatoes,  reminded 
us  that  we  had  not  left  civilization  entirely. 
As  we  rode  swiftly  towards  the  South  a 
great  disappointment  was  felt  that  we  were  not 
to  go  through  the  cities  of  Virginia — Fred- 


38 

ericksburg,  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  his- 
torical places  that  we  were  peculiarly  anxious 
to  see.  These  were  skirted  or  passed  some 
distance  away,  but  we  caught  a  glimpse  of  the 
spires  of  Richmond  and  it  set  us  all  agog. 
We  passed  into  North  Carolina  and  soon 
entered  Weldon,  the  scene  of  several  cavalry 
engagements.  After  leaving  this  city  we 
passed  through  miles  of  desolate  country,  over 
which  once  waved  the  tall  and  stately  pines, 
but  now  only  the  blackened  stumps  greeted 
us.  Occasionally  a  small  forest  was  passed, 
which  looked  amid  the  general  destruction  as 
if  it  had  been  forgotten  by  the  axeman. 

These  small  forests,  which  had  been  used 
only  for  tapping  for  turpentine  and  resin,  con- 
tained trees  sixty  or  seventy  feet  high,  straight 
as  an  arrow,  with  the  lowest  branches  twenty 
feet  from  the  ground.  These  trees  were  about 
the  only  interesting  features  of  this  whole 
region  of  piney  atmosphere.  Occasionally  we 
caught  a  glimpse  of  some  far  away  range  of 
mountains,  but  the  view  was  quickly  lost.  At 
Henderson  we  stopped  for  water  and  our  ice 
coolers  were  refilled.  The  water  was  gotten 


39 

to  the  coolers  through  the  top  of  the  car  by 
means  of  hose  from  a  hydrant  at  the  station. 
This  refilling  was  done  hurriedly  and  they 
were  not  very  particular  as  to  the  direction  in 
which  the  hose  pointed,  hence  quite  a  few 
sorry  looking  soldiers. 

As  we  were  slowly  crossing  over  one  of  the 
many  muddy  streams  of  North  Carolina  a 
workman  called  out  to  us :  "  Be  you  un's 
come  all  the  way  from  New  Jersey?  "  "  Yes." 
"And  be  you  un's  all  goin'  to  Cuba?  "  "Yes." 
"  Well  you  un's  had  better  all  go  right  back, 
for  its  hotter  'n  hell-fire  down  there."  A 
peculiar  thing  I  noticed  was  the  absence  of  all 
enthusiasm  among  the  groups  of  people  we 
occasionally  met  in  the  wilderness  through 
which  we  passed.  Most  of  these  were  negroes, 
but  in  nearly  every  group  of  black-faced  hu- 
manity could  be  seen  the  fair  face  of  the  white 
girl,  "Missus's  little  lamb,"  who  took  the 
household  with  her  to  see  the  Yankee  soldiers, 
whose  fathers  years  before  had  tramped 
through  that  very  region,  leaving  burning 
forests  and  even  cities  in  their  wake.  We 
entered  Raleigh  and  passed  the  encampment 


40 

where  the  State  militia  had  mobilized.  Soon 
after  leaving  Hamlet  darkness  descended,  taps 
were  sounded  and  we  prepared  for  our  second 
night's  repose. 

We  woke  next  morning  as  the  train  was 
crossing  the  Savannah  river  and  immediately 
afterward  entered  Augusta,  Ga.,  just  as  the 
cocks  were  crowing,  having  passed  through 
South  Carolina  during  the  night.  Here  we 
enjoyed  the  luxury  of  a  good  wash  and  we 
needed  it  badly.  The  only  water  obtainable  on 
the  cars  was  in  the  water  coolers  and  they  had 
been  empty  a  long  while.  Augusta  gave  us 
quite  a  welcome.  It  had  been  steadily  getting 
warmer  and  warmer,  until  now  as  we  pulled 
out  of  Augusta  at  about  8  a.  m.  the  thermom- 
eter in  the  car  marked  87° ;  at  noon  it  was  95°, 
where  it  remained  until  far  into  the  afternoon. 
Upon  leaving  Augusta  we  noticed  for  the  first 
time  the  unmistakable  signs  of  the  tropics, 
great  ferns,  seven  and  eight  feet  high,  which 
had  rank  growth  in  the  swamps  lining  our 
route.  Here  and  there  scrub  palmettos  reared 
their  graceful  branches  like  giant  hands  be- 
stowing a  blessing  upon  the  smaller  growth 


41 

beneath,  and  farther  south  loomed  the  shaggy 
headed  cabbage  palmetto,  the  sight  of  which 
recalled  the  brave  fight  at  Fort  Moultrie  off 
Charleston  in  1776,  which  fort  was  built  al- 
most entirely  of  palmetto  logs,  the  principal 
advantage  being  the  fact  that  they  did  not 
splinter  when  struck.  We  passed  vast  swampy 
areas  of  tangled  scrub,  out  of  which  we  could 
almost  expect  to  see  alligators  show  their  bony 
snouts. 

We  stopped  at  Millen  near  noon  to  take  our 
coffee.  This  town  was  burned  when  Sher- 
man's troops  marched  through  on  their  way  to 
Augusta.  It  was  a  sleepy  sort  of  a  town.  No 
one  seemed  to  have  any  business  to  attend  to. 
The  stores  were  one  story  affairs,  and  upon 
entering  we  would  select  whatever  we  wanted 
and  drop  the  nickel  in  the  hand  of  the  pro- 
prietor, who  was  seated  at  the  door.  The 
only  busy  place  was  the  post-office,  which  did 
a  thriving  business  during  the  hour  we  halted 
there.  About  2  p.  m.  we  drew  into  the  car 
sheds  at  Savannah  only  long  enough  to  have 
the  cars  inspected.  Here  the  boys  were  again 
besieged  for  buttons  and  souvenirs. 


42 

All  through  Georgia  were  large  numbers  of 
hogs,  "  razor  backs,"  the  boys  called  them, 
probably  of  the  same  variety  as  Sherman's 
"  bummers  "  had  such  fun  over.  They  were 
very  lean,  had  long  legs  and  long  snout,  with 
a  decidedly  "  bad  "  eye.  At  one  of  the  stops 
for  water  a  family  was  spied  peacefully  root- 
ing among  the  pines,  but  the  furious  charge 
made  upon  them  by  the  fun-loving  boys  soon 
scattered  all  but  the  sow;  she  defied  them, 
and  they  let  her  alone,  but  the  little  fellows 
could  run  like  rabbits.  Three  or  four  of  our 
boys  would  corner  a  little  black  porker  and 
suddenly  drop  on  him,  but  somehow  he  was 
never  under  the  pile  when  it  landed.  One, 
however,  was  caught  and  brought  squealing 
into  the  cars,  but  was  afterward  dropped  some 
distance  farther  on. 

We  now  sped  due  south,  reaching  Waycross 
late  in  the  afternoon.  Beyond  its  being  a  rail- 
road center  it  was  uninteresting.  The  forests 
now  presented  a  truly  tropical  appearance 
with  festoons  of  moss  hanging  from  the 
branches  of  the  palmettos ;  with  ferns  here  and 
there.  Against  the  dense  green  of  the  leaves 


43 

stood  in  lovely  contrast  perfect  showers  of 
beautiful  pink  blossoms  which  covered  large 
trees.  We  were  now  nearing  Florida,  the 
land  of  flowers,  luscious  fruit,  ancient  build- 
ings and  brilliant  fountains  of  perpetual  youth, 
but  now  the  mecca  of  thousands  of  Uncle 
Sam's  soldiers.  It  was  growing  dark  as  we 
crossed  the  line  into  the  most  southern  State. 
We  arrived  at  Jacksonville  station  about  10 
o'clock.  Taps  were  sounded,  lights  put  out 
and  we  slept  soundly. 


PART  THIRD 


I 


CAMP  CUBA  LIBRE 

^3*   «£*   «J*r 

'TpHE  next  morning  we  were  caught  napping 
sure  enough — for  during  the  night  the 
train  had  taken  us  out  to  the  camp — bugles 
were  calling  to  each  other,  seemingly  right 
under  our  "  bed-room  "  windows,  and  away 
off  in  the  distance,  the  echoes  were  re- 
plying "Can't  get  'em  up;  can't  get 
'em  up."  Then  our  own  buglers  had  their 
say,  flinging  back  the  imputation  that  we  were 
the  only  ones  not  up.  Then  the  regimental 
band  took  up  the  strain.  It  was  a  beautiful 
morning.  The  sun  was  just  rising  and  throw- 
ing slanting  rays  into  the  trees.  All  around 
us  were  the  tents  of  soldiers.  Sentries  with 
ominous  looking  cartridges  in  their  belts  were 
wearily  pacing  their  beats,  but  ever  alert  to  the 
slightest  move,  for  we  were  now  comparatively 
near  to  the  seat  of  war.  The  band  ceased  and 
sharp  commands  followed.  In  an  incredibly 
short  space  of  time  the  companies  nearest  us 


48 

were  formed,  every  coat  buttoned,  every  leg- 
ging laced,  and  the  sergeant  rapidly  calling 
the  roll.  We  had  confidently  believed  that  we 
could  give  points  in  military  efficiency  to  any 
regiment  we  might  come  in  contact  with,  but 
we  inwardly  confessed  right  there  and  then 
that  this  regiment  on  our  left  could  give  us 
points  on  getting  out  for  roll  call,  and  not  dur- 
ing all  our  stay  in  the  army  did  we  ever  suc- 
ceed in  getting  anywhere  near  the  example 
set  for  us  that  morning. 

While  waiting  for  the  order  to  proceed  to 
camp  we  were  regaled  with  marvelous  tales  of 
alligators,  rattlesnakes,  spiders  and  poisonous 
creeping  and  flying  things  of  all  kinds.  We 
participated  in  the  killing  of  a  snake  under  the 
cars  and  had  a  great  chase  after  an  immense 
spider,  which  "  wasn't  near  "  as  "  big "  as 
"  some,"  they  said,  so  we  imagined  they 
must  have  resembled  crabs.  They  had  an  al- 
ligator about  four  feet  long,  which  they  had 
caught  not  100  feet  away  in  a  stream. 

About  noon  we  disembarked  and  with  our 
invincible  drum  corps  leading,  we  marched 
through  camp  to  the  site  selected  for  us.  This 


49 

march  will  never  be  forgotten,  and  it  was 
dubbed  "the  dust  march."  Fortunately  for  us 
it  was  only  for  about  half  a  mile,  but  we  in- 
haled more  dust  then  than  we  will  for  the  rest 
of  our  lives.  Indeed,  our  company  got  the  full 
benefit  of  it,  for  we  were  the  left  or  rear  com- 
pany. Wisconsin  and  Illinois  cheered  us. 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina  yelled  at  us,  and 
altogether  we  got  a  pretty  good  welcome. 
Wisconsin  took  the  trouble  to  visit  us  the 
next  day  to  tell  us  how  glad  they  were  to  see 
us  come  into  camp,  and  we  took  to  these 
hearty  Milwaukee  lads  like  a  duck  to  water. 
Sunday  morning  broke  bright  and  clear  and 
we  were  immediately  in  the  throes  of  "  house  " 
moving.  All  the  lines  of  street  had  to  be 
adjusted,  and  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon  be- 
fore we  were  finally  settled  and  could  begin 
"  house  keeping  "  in  good  earnest.  All  our 
food  so  far  had  been  "  travel  rations,"  and  the 
nice  things  we  had  brought  began  to  spoil. 
It  was  two  days  before  the  commissary  could 
get  our  rations  to  camp,  their  arrival  relieved 
us  greatly. 

We  were  now  camped  on  the  left  of  the  regi- 


50 

ment,  or  northeast,  getting  the  full  benefit  of 
the  breeze  which  at  noon  was  sure  to  come  and 
stay  until  after  dark.  The  evenings  were  fine. 
Such  in  the  north  in  the  hot  months  are  rare. 
The  thermometer  in  the  daytime  registered 
85°  to  95°,  while  in  the  evening  it  marks  only 
60°;  no  mosquitoes.  The  flaps  of  tents  were 
generally  left  open,  but  ours  we  closed  be- 
cause near  morning  a  heavy  dew  falls  and 
saturates  everything  exposed  and  we  did  not 
think  it  wise  to  leave  them  open. 

The  odor  of  pines  was  in  the  air  constantly, 
and  when  we  went  into  the  fields  for  drill  a 
weed,  when  trampled  on,  emitted  a  perfume 
not  unlike  locust  blossoms.  The  fields  also 
were  full  of  the  scrub  palmettos  about  two  or 
three  feet  high.  They  were  similar  to  the 
palm  branches  so  familiar  on  Palm  Sunday. 
Another  peculiar  character  in  plant  life  here 
was  the  moss  which  hangs  in  shroud-like 
gracefulness  from  all  kinds  of  trees.  This 
moss  looks  very  like  curly  sea-weed  when  dry 
and  hangs  in  festoons  several  feet  long  from 
the  limbs  and  branches.  This  moss  some  of 
the  Wisconsin  boys  spread  in  their  tents  to 


sleep  upon  and  it  evidently  made  comfortable 
beds. 

Sunday  I  strolled  into  Jacksonville  and 
watched  the  soldiers  crabbing  from  the  piers. 
These  crabs  they  told  me  were  not  fit  to 
eat  on  account  of  so  much  decayed  vegetable 
matter  in  the  St.  Johns  river,  upon  which  they 
feed.  A  striking  feature  of  the  river  is  the 
denseness  with  which  in  places  it  is  covered 
with  hyacinths,  which  at  times  clog  the  wheels 
of  ferry-boats  so  as  to  stop  navigation.  These 
plants  were  introduced  here  some  time  back 
for  the  purpose  of  beautifying  the  banks,  hav- 
ing handsome  spikes  of  bloom.  They  grow 
very  large.  The  leaf  is  much  larger  than  a 
pond-lily,  and  is  frequently  the  home  of  a 
poisonous  spider.  Tradition  tells  us  that 
these  spiders  are  to  eventually  destroy  the 
plants.  I  visited  St.  Johns  Episcopal  church 
and  was  received  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Wo- 
man's Auxiliary,  who  kindly  showed  me 
around.  On  a  subsequent  visit  I  met  the 
Rector  and  enjoyed  a  chat  with  him  on  the 
porch  of  the  rectory.  He  told  me  that  four- 
teen young  men  of  his  church  had  left  for  the 


52 

war.  Some  of  them  were  from  the  choir,  and 
I  was  invited  to  take  part  with  the  choir  in  the 
services  during  our  stay. 

Our  company  had  been  designated  as  the 
Provost  Guard,  Second  Division,  Seventh 
Army  Corps,  with  Captain  Ely  as  Provost 
Marshal.  What  honor  there  was  in  it  came 
from  the  fact  that  we  were  the  body  guard  of 
General  Lee,  and  received  orders  from  him 
only.  We  became  a  distinct  body,  with  the 
Provost  Marshal's  headquarters  in  Jackson- 
ville, near  the  General's  headquarters.  No 
State  pay  had  come  yet  and  everybody  was 
"  dead  broke."  The  extra  blue  shirts  the  boys 
bought  on  going  to  Sea  Girt  they  were  now 
selling  to  the  Illinois  boys  to  obtain  a  few 
cents  to  spend. 

A  canteen  had  been  established  which  dis- 
pensed liquors  and  soft  drinks  only.  The 
men  might  go  to  the  first  sergeant  and  pro- 
cure trading  orders  on  the  canteen  to  the 
amount  of  two  dollars.  This  amount  was 
often  cut  down  to  one  dollar  or  less 
by  the  Captain,  who  used  his  judgment 
in  the  matter.  The  men  would  laugh 


53 

with  childish  glee  upon  obtaining  these 
orders  and  invite  their  friends  to  "  come  and 
have  something,"  wondering  how  they  had 
survived  so  long  without  it.  The  amount  was 
soon  used  up.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  had  estab- 
lished a  large  tent  just  back  of  our  company 
and  provided  for  the  use  of  the  regiment  a 
stock  of  magazines  and  periodicals.  Also 
ice-water  which  was  kept  in  barrels  sunk 
in  the  ground.  Strange  to  say,  the  hos- 
pitality of  the  association  was  often  abused, 
but  as  a  rule  the  boys  generally  appre- 
ciated their  kindness.  This  tent  was  sup- 
posed to  follow  the  regiment  to  Cuba  or 
wherever  it  went.  The  soil  being  of  a 
light  sandy  loam  and  mixed  profusely  with 
soot  from  fires  in  the  pine  woods,  rose  easily 
with  the  breeze,  which  sprang  up  about  noon 
every  day  and  gave  us  a  liberal  sprinkling  of 
this  dusty  compound.  To  keep  the  interior 
of  our  tent  clean,  we  procured  the  tufts  of 
needles  which  grow  thickly  on  the  top  of 
young  pines  like  a  plume  as  they  permitted  the 
dust  to  sift  through  them,  and  when  dried 
made  a  couch  which  was  soft  and  springy. 


54 

It  took  about  one  to  one  and  a  half  hours  to 
collect  enough  needles  for  one  man,  and  for 
that  reason  the  idea  was  not  generally  adopted. 
"  Too  much  trouble." 

The  guard  duty  our  company  performed 
was  such  that  we  became  more  or  less  a  target 
at  which  uncomplimentary  remarks  were 
hurled  by  men  of  other  regiments,  and  it  was 
only  because  it  was  in  the  line  of  duty  that  it 
was  done  so  cheerfully.  During  the  week  the 
regiment  was  paid  by  the  Government  for  the 
month  of  May,  and  the  city  of  Jacksonville  was 
painted  a  Jersey  color  from  end  to  and.  The 
other  regiments  were  paid  also,  but  they  were 
not  in  it  with  Jersey.  Lieutenant  Brunner  re- 
ported that  he  had  sent  home  for  the  boys 
amounts*  aggregating  three  hundred  dollars. 
Considerable  industry  finally  erected  a  "  real 
bath-house,"  which  contained  two  sprays  and 
lots  of  pans  for  washing  purposes.  It  is  need- 
less to  say  that  this  house  was  the  most  popu- 
lar in  camp.  The  camp  was  laid  out  in 
squares,  and  the  dividing  streets  of  regiments 
were  provided  with  stand  pipes  and  troughs, 
both  of  which  were  used  from  daylight  until 


55 

midnight.  It  was  especially  refreshing"  to  take 
a  dip  after  marching  until  midnight  and  then 
creeping  between  the  blankets,  sleep  soundly 
until  morning.  This  water  was  supplied  by 
the  Jacksonville  Water  Co.,  which  had  four 
Artesian  wells  sunk  back  in  the  country  and 
piped  to  the  pumping  station  in  Jacksonville, 
whence  it  was  distributed  around.  One  of 
these  wells  was  nearly  one  thousand  feet  deep. 
The  water  never  ceased  to  flow,  and  was  al- 
ways bright  and  sparkling,  although  rather 
warm,  with  a  decided  taste  of  sulphur,  which 
from  some  wells  was  positively  disagreeable. 
This  water  was  also  used  for  fire  purposes  and, 
besides  its  use  by  the  city,  supplied  ten  thou- 
sand soldiers  and  several  corrals  of  horses  and 
mules  for  washing  and  bathing  purposes.  The 
pumping  station  was  guarded  night  and  day, 
for  suspicious  persons  had  been  seen  near  it. 
It  would  have  been  dangerous  to  go  too  near 
it  after  dark.  Everything  we  ate  and  drank 
was  carefully  guarded. 

All  the  boys  were  enjoying  their  stay  there 
immensely.  We  were  getting  better  food 
from  the  Government  than  we  got  at  Sea  Girt, 


56 

nor  must  I  forget  to  mention  that  the  people 
of  Jacksonville  always  welcomed  us,  and  lots 
of  things  found  their  way  into  our  tents.  To 
the  Jacksonville  people  there  was  nothing  just 
like  the  Jerseymen.  We  were  treated  with 
great  kindness.  One  lady,  who  said  she  used 
to  live  in  New  Jersey,  sent  us  a  large  can  filled 
with  stew,  which  we  accepted  with  thanks,  and 
it  was  excellent,  but  that  very  noon  we  had 
stew  at  camp  and  we  were  dosed  with  stews 
morning,  noon  and  night.  We  decided  to  de- 
cline the  next  donation. 

We  had  been  away  from  home  just  one 
month  and  a  half  and  in  that  time — although 
not  seeing  any  actual  field  service — we  be- 
lieved we  had  become  pretty  thoroughly 
seasoned  in  camp  life.  One  month  of  steady 
downpour  and  half  a  month  of  blazing  tropical 
sun  was  enough  to  do  the  trick.  We  were 
housed  in  as  comfortable  quarters  as  possible 
under  the  circumstances.  The  climate  here 
made  us  so  sleepy  and  lazy  that  at  all  hours, 
between  eight  in  the  morning  and  five  in  the 
afternoon,  the  tents  contained  sleeping  men, 
and  they  slept  so  soundly  that  often  they 


CAMP  OF   THE  SECOND   NEW   JERSEY   REGIMENT 
JACKSONVILLE,  FLA.,  1898. 


57 

would  wake  to  find  some  joker  had  been 
smearing-  their  faces  with  soot  and  grease. 
Nights  in  Jacksonville,  however,  brought  that 
musical  pest  we  all  knew  so  well,  the  mosquito. 
He  abounds  along  the  St.  Johns  river,  and 
seemed  to  enjoy  good  health  and  strength, 
judging  from  the  looks  of  our  boys,  who  were 
trying  to  sleep  in  provost  headquarters  while 
off  guard  during  the  night. 

We  were  doing  all  night  work  now,  relieved 
by  Companies  K,  Forty-ninth  Iowa,  and  I, 
First  Wisconsin.  This  was  found  necessary 
after  pay  day.  This  same  day  brought  a  rise 
in  the  price  of  souvenirs,  live  alligators  and 
everything  the  soldier  would  be  likely  to  buy 
to  send  home.  What  money  the  soldier  re- 
ceived, if  not  sent  home  immediately,  was  gen- 
erally left  in  saloons,  and  the  storekeepers 
were  merely  making  a  bid  for  it,  for  it  must 
go  somewhere  and  right  away  too. 

We  had  two  squads  doing  duty  in  the  camps 
of  the  division  to  see  that  regulations  were 
lived  up  to.  Our  instructions  were,  "  keep 
your  eyes  open,  mouth  closed."  "  Watch 
strangers  in  camp  (no  civilians  were  allowed 


58 

unless  with  official  escort),  watch  the  polic- 
ing of  streets  and  the  care  of  kitchens  and 
sinks."  "  Don't  criticise,  but  report  observa- 
tions on  return,"  and  the  final  injunction  from 
Lieutenant  Brunner,  "  Don't  be  fresh."  The 
guard  had  no  friends,  for  we  arrested  every- 
body found  on  the  streets  after  taps.  We  had 
no  drills,  and  up  to  this  time  enjoyed  excellent 
health,  no  one  from  the  company  being  sick. 
We  took  daily  walks  around  the  country  and 
into  Jacksonville  while  off  duty.  Our  regi- 
ment paraded  through  Jacksonville  on  a  Sat- 
urday afternoon  and  drew  much  favorable 
comment.  We  were  reviewed  by  Generals 
Lee  and  Burt,  the  latter  being  our  brigade 
commander.  After  we  had  passed  the  re- 
viewing stand  General  Lee  mounted  his 
magnificent  gray  horse  "  Cuba,"  and  rode 
at  the  head  of  the  regiment  back  to 
camp.  The  people  of  Jacksonville  said 
that  the  New  Jersey  regiment  was  the  finest 
seen  there,  and  Lee  made  the  remark  that  he 
wished  only  one  regiment  like  the  Second  New 
Jersey  to  show  the  Spaniards  what  an  organ- 
ized body  of  troops  should  be.  His  marching 


59 

at  our  head  was  a  mark  of  esteem  in  which  he 
held  us.  This  week  we  received  our  pay  from 
the  government  to  June  I5th,  and  the  boys 
were  correspondingly  happy.  We  were  now 
kept  so  constantly  on  the  jump  that  we  hardly 
had  the  time  to  write  to  anybody.  The  box 
sent  by  the  good  people  of  Rutherford  arrived 
on  Sunday,  but  for  lack  of  transportation  it 
did  not  get  into  camp  until  Wednesday.  All 
the  perishable  stuff,  like  cake,  etc.,  was  unfit 
to  eat,  but  what  was  hailed  with  joy  by  the 
boys  was  canned  vegetables  and  fruit.  We  had 
been  getting  greasy  meat  for  a  couple  of  weeks 
and  had  no  money  to  buy  anything  else,  and 
this  in  a  hot  climate.  One  box  was  marked 
Dick  Rusk  and  Ben  Cohen.  This  was  for  our 
tent,  and  for  some  time  after  we  were  enabled 
to  "  decorate  the  cloth  "  in  great  style  with 
canned  corn,  mustard  pickles,  pickled  onions, 
baked  beans,  chow-chow,  condensed  milk  and 
tomato  soup.  One  morning,  being  off  duty, 
Corporals  Cohen,  Rusk  and  myself  strolled 
into  town.  A  gentleman  hailed  us  from  his 
porch  and  proceeded  to  show  us  his  garden. 
This  garden  would  fill  any  northerner  with 


6o 

envy.  He  had  orange  trees,  seven  of  them, 
all  with  oranges  a  shade  darker  than  the 
beautiful  green  of  the  leaves.  A  beautiful  tree 
of  the  fern  family,  having-  large  branches  of 
bright  yellow  flowers.  These  he  said  grew 
wild  in  Mexico.  Enormous  hydrangeas,  hibi- 
cus,  the  flowers  of  which  were  as  large  as  an 
Easter  lily,  but  a  beautiful  pink,  with  a  maroon 
throat.  Eight  blooms  were  on  this  plant. 
The  season  of  roses  had  ended,  but  he  had 
some  very  handsome  Marshal  Neil's,  whose 
tree  covered  a  large  arbor.  He  had  sent  that 
morning  to  General  Lee  a  large  basket  of  red, 
white  and  blue  flowers.  He  also  showed  us 
an  Acacia  tree  which  had  delicate  pink 
flowers  the  same  time  it  had  long  brown  pods 
of  seed.  We  had  some  trouble  in  leaving  this 
interesting  gentleman.  Baseball  and  athletic 
sports  became  quite  popular  at  this  time,  and 
received  the  official  endorsement  of  our  higher 
officers.  General  Burt  was  often  seen  on  the 
grand  stand  "  rooting  "  for  the  team  from  his 
brigade.  But  the  games  were  mostly  between 
Wisconsin,  Illinois,  New  Jersey  and  Iowa. 
The  Wisconsin  boys  gained  the  championship, 


6i 

but  they  had  to  work  hard  for  it.  The  Jersey 
boys  excelled  in  the  athletic  sports  and  won 
nearly  every  event  in  the  set  of  games.  The 
General  was  quite  a  strict  disciplinarian,  but 
one  day  he  became  quite  enthusiastic  over  a 
game  of  ball  and  was  invited  to  take  part. 
When  he  took  off  his  coat  he  explained  that 
he  was  no  longer  an  officer,  but  just  "  one  of 
the  boys."  The  boys  took  this  explanation 
literally,  and  during  the  game  the  General  was 
a  fair  mark  for  all  sorts  of  baseball  slang  and 
"jolly." 

June  28th  brought  a  very  happy  conclusion 
to  our  guard  duty  in  Jacksonville,  from  which 
we  were  relieved  by  a  company  from  the  First 
North  Carolina  regiment.  The  company  had 
been  worked  hard,  and  it  was  beginning  to  tell 
on  us.  Sergeant  Collins  at  noon  brought  in 
the  last  detail,  and  as  they  marched  proudly  up 
the  length  of  the  company  street  they  were 
applauded  heartily.  We  could  now  take  our 
old  place  at  the  left  of  the  regiment  and  have 
the  pleasure  of  serving  under  Lieutenant 
Blake  in  the  field  drills.  There  was  no  reason 
now  why  we  should  not  become  the  record 


62 

company  of  the  regiment.  The  Wisconsin 
boys  paid  the  regiment  a  visit  one  night. 
They  were  dressed  only  in  their  under  gar- 
ments, with  their  poncho's  over  their  shoul- 
ders, and  they  had  an  elegant  time.  Our  boys 
returned  the  visit  the  next  night,  in  the  same 
stylish  undress,  with  the  addition  of  a  red 
blanket,  instead  of  a  poncho,  leaving  one  arm 
bare  to  the  shoulder.  We  then  stuck  our  haver- 
sacks on  our  heads,  with  the  flap  trailing  be- 
hind. The  ridiculous  get  up  was  so  taking 
that  nearly  half  the  regiment  turned  out,  and 
headed  by  the  drum  corps,  we  marched  past 
the  Second  Illinois  camp  and  through  the 
camps  of  the  Second  and  Fourth  Virginia, 
Second  Wisconsin  and  Forty-ninth  Iowa,  in  all 
of  which  officers  and  men  turned  out  and 
cheered  us.  The  comment  of  "  Jersey,  you're 
all  right,"  seemed  to  fit  the  case  exactly.  All 
the  mascots,  big  and  little,  turned  out  with  us, 
even  the  red,  white  and  blue  rooster. 

Arriving  back  in  camp,  the  Colonel  was 
called  out  and  in  a  neat  speech  he  compli- 
mented the  men  on  their  orderly  behavior, 
wished  us  to  have  all  the  fun  we  could  get, 


63 

"but  warned  us  to  keep  within  the  bounds  of 
military  discipline.  The  efforts  we  had  put 
forth  to  make  ourselves  ridiculous  had 
covered  us  with  perspiration  and  a  thick  layer 
-of  dust  clung  to  everything  that  was  exposed, 
so  that  we  were  a  sight  to  make  the  iron  faced 
gods  laugh.  The  bathhouses  were  soon 
crowded,  and  far  into  the  night  shirtless 
human  spectres  were  flitting  through  the 
streets. 

We  had  a  turn  at  drill  the  next  morning 
and  it  was  particularly  severe.  Hot!  My,  in 
the  morning  it  seemed  to  blister,  and  we  were 
soaked  with  perspiration,  for  we  had  regi- 
mental battle  exercises;  but  as  soon  as  we  re- 
turned we  stripped,  got  a  bath  and  felt  better. 
I  remember  distinctly  that  morning  after  the 
bath  of  sitting  down  in  only  my  trousers  and 
socks  and  writing  a  long  letter  to  the  folks  at 
home. 

In  our  night  patrols  of  the  city  we  came 
across  some  very  nice  people  who  took  pains 
to  get  our  names,  and  would  ask  for  us  if  we 
did  not  appear  on  guard  the  next  night. 
Upon  their  invitation  I  visited  a  family  by  the 


64 

name  of  Rich,  and  while  there  two  other  of 
our  boys  came  along,  whereupon  the  table 
was  spread  and  we  had  a  nice  afternoon  lunch. 
Next  day  they  sent  us  a  big  chocolate  layer 
cake. 

The  champion  watermelon  eater  of  the  com- 
pany was  universally  conceded  to  be  Private 
Isaac  Wilson,  and  a  meal  seldom  passed  but 
Ike  was  seen  up  to  his  ears  in  melon.  This 
fruit  cost  from  20  cents  to  nothing,  according 
to  the  distance  from  camp.  One  depot  com- 
missary guard  of  eight  men  had  six  melons 
to  eat.  Ike  was  there  and  they  disappeared 
very  quickly.  Every  time  the  reliefs  awoke 
during  the  night  watermelon  stared  them  in 
the  face. 

As  we  were  upon  the  eve  of  very  serious 
operations  in  Cuba,  the  authorities  deemed  it 
expedient  to  have  the  Articles  of  War  read  to 
the  soldiers.  There  are  127,  and  we  received 
them  upon  the  installment  plan  at  roll  call  in 
the  morning  and  evening.  Lieutenant  Brun- 
ner  read  these  so  well  that  it  was  rumored  he 
intended  to  lecture  after  the  war  was  over  on 
what  not  to  do  in  war  times. 


65 

A  number  of  excellent  entertainments  were 
given  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  tent.  The  Second 
Illinois  band  gave  a  concert  one  evening,  and 
on  another  occasion  Sergeant  Clift  and 
Private  Gillen  sang  solos,  while  Private  F.  M. 
Stevens  played  enjoyable  selections  upon  the 
piano;  at  the  close  of  which  a  premature  an- 
nouncement by  the  chaplain  of  the  fall  of 
Santiago  was  made,  and  an  enthusiastic  scene 
took  place,  while  the  cheering  was  taken  up 
all  over  camp.  The  boys  had  been  following 
events  closely  and  all  were  eager  for  action. 
We  felt  keenly  the  hardships  our  comrades 
were  enduring  and  wished  to  share  them.  We 
were  at  this  time,  perhaps,  in  better  condition 
for  an  active  campaign  than  at  any  time  of  our 
stay  in  the  south,  being  fully  equipped,  in  ex- 
cellent spirits  and  good  health. 


PART  FOURTH 


PLEASURES  OF  THE  CAMP. 

R  July  4th  an  elaborate  program  had 
been  prepared,  but  owing  to  a  considerable 
downpour  of  rain  it  was  postponed  to  the  next 
day.  The  celebration  probably  surpassed  any- 
thing of  its  kind  Jacksonville  ever  saw,  and 
its  features  are  not  likely  to  be  seen  again. 
These  were:  9  a.  m.,  music  and  the  reading  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  with 
speeches;  12  m.,  salute  of  48  guns;  4.30  p.  m., 
parade  of  all  the  troops  in  camp,  numbering 
12,000;  but  most  interesting  was  the  train  of 
189  pack  mules  connected  with  the  regiment 
of  Rough  Riders  commanded  by  Colonel 
Torrey.  It  was  in  genuine  Rocky  Mountain 
style,  and  created  considerable  interest.  The 
Second  Mississippi  regiment  of  infantry 
turned  out  only  half  equipped,  and  the  transi- 
tion periods  from  a  citizen  to  a  trained  soldier 
were  seen  to  advantage.  Our  regiment 
paraded  in  good  shape,  with  L  Company  in  its 


70 

honorable  position  at  the  left  of  the  regiment. 
Owing  to  another  downpour  of  rain  the  line 
of  march  was  shortened,  and  after  being  re- 
viewed we  marched  back  to  camp,  drenched 
to  the  skin.  The  men  all  had  changes  of 
underclothing  and  no  bad  effects  resulted,  but 
the  street  next  morning  resembled  the  rear  of 
a  tenement  in  New  York  on  wash  day. 

Sunday  evening,  July  8th,  a  detachment 
from  each  company  of  our  regiment  was  as- 
sembled to  attend  service  in  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Jacksonville,  and  about  300 
men,  headed  by  the  First  Wisconsin  band,  left 
camp  at  7  p.  m.  After  the  capture  of  the 
city  by  the  Federal  troops  during  the  Civil 
War,  this  church  was  used  by  them  as  a  hos- 
pital and  the  building  has  not  been  altered  in 
any  particular  since  then.  The  band  led  in  the 
singing.  It  probably  would  have  been  pleas- 
ant out  of  doors,  but  in  a  boxlike  structure  of 
truly  southern  style,  with  the  bass  drum,  snare 
drums  and  cymbals  banging  out  "  Nearer,  My 
God,  to  Thee,"  it  became  a  very  trying  ex- 
perience indeed. 

The  flowers  of  Florida  seemed  to  be  rather  a 


myth,  very  few  being  seen,  but  those  of  us  who 
had  friends  at  home  who  loved  flowers  were 
able  to  find  some  choice  specimens.  The 
handsomest  wild  flower  I  saw  was  the  Hibis- 
cus. It  grew  about  five  feet  high  in  dense 
swampy  thickets,  usually  at  the  edge  of  creeks. 
Its  blossoms  measured  fully  ten  inches  in  di- 
ameter. Its  great  wide  throat  was  crimson. 
Yellow  sepals  and  four  pink  petals  blotched 
with  black  completed  this  beautiful  flower. 
They  grow  in  profusion,  and  against  a  back- 
ground of  green  leaves  make  a  very  showy 
appearance. 

During  our  journey  south  I  noticed  large 
clumps  of  yellow  Jack-in-the-Pulpits  which 
were  twice  the  size  of  our  Jersey  plants.  The 
season  of  flowers  in  Florida  is  the  months  of 
February,  March  and  April.  Then  the  roses 
are  in  bloom.  Marshal  Neils  grow  in  almost 
every  garden  in  Jacksonville,  some  climbing 
to  the  tops  of  the  houses,  and  upon  the  roof, 
late  blossoms  of  tea  roses  were  still  to  be  seen. 
The  Passion  flower  is  very  common,  the 
climate  favoring  this  aptly  named  blue  and 
white  legendary  flower  of  the  Crucifixion. 


72 

Seeds  of  other  flowers  blown  from  gardens 
take  root  in  the  streets  and  empty  lots,  and 
among  them  the  starry-eyed  phlox  lifts  up  its 
pleasant  little  face.  Camilias  also  were  very 
common,  lading  the  air  near  them  with  rich 
perfume.  Cannas  reached  perfection  without 
any  cultivation,  short  plants  but  immense 
flaming  blossoms;  others  were  yellow, 
blotched  with  red.  The  collecting  of  these 
flowers  was  a  positive  pleasure,  even  in  the  hot 
sun. 

July  Qth  our  regiment  was  swelled  to  its 
full  complement  by  the  addition  of  330  re- 
cruits from  Sea  Girt,  and  a  finer  lot  of  young 
men  did  not  come  to  camp  for  any  regiment. 
More  than  this,  the  State  had  done  for  the 
Nation  what  no  other  had,  equipped  every 
man  ready  to  go  to  the  front.  Time  and  again 
recruits  would  come  from  Illinois,  Wisconsin, 
Iowa,  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  dressed 
just  as  they  appeared  at  home.  As  our  boys 
marched  through  Jacksonville  escorted  by  de- 
tachments from  each  company,  they  received 
considerable  applause.  They  carried  aloft  the 
banner  "  New  Jersey  Recruits!  This  is  the 


73 


material  that  New  Jersey  sends."  We  were 
all  proud  of  our  State.  At  the  camp  their  re- 
ception was  cooled  by  a  downpour  of  rain. 

Monday  morning,  July  nth,  it  commenced 
to  rain  and  it  rained  in  torrents  the  rest  of  the 
day  and  all  night.  It  flooded  the  tents,  so  that 
boards  and  even  boxes  had  to  be  brought  into 
service  to  stand  on.  The  recruits,  being  quar- 
tered on  lower  ground,  were  practically 
drowned  out,  so  that  they  either  had  to  stand 
in  the  rain  or  seek  shelter  in  tents  already 
crowded  to  their  limits.  There  was  hardly  a 
dry  foot  in  camp  Tuesday  night. 

A  large  number  of  i884-m.odel  Springfield 
rifles  arrived  at  this  time  and  our  regiment  was 
supplied.  Their  newest  feature  was  a  ramrod 
bayonet,  the  dangerous  end  being  cast  like  a 
bit.  By  giving  a  twist  to  the  rifle  after  en- 
tering a  body  it  would  tear  the  flesh  horribly. 
In  other  respects  it  was  the  same  rifle  used  in 
the  National  Guard  for  years. 

Thursday,  July  i4th,  a  telegram  was  re- 
ceived by  Adjutant  Hilton  announcing  the  fall 
of  Santiago.  The  news  was  genuine  this  time, 
and  the  occasion  prompted  an  outburst  of  en- 


74 

thusiasm.  Later  on  the  good  feeling  was  in- 
creased by  the  welcome  command  of  "  Fall  in 
for  your  pay." 

The  coloring  and  shapes  which  the  clouds 
assumed  in  the  early  evening  were  quite  re- 
markable. One  evening  in  particular,  at 
about  6.30,  a  scarlet  and  white  streak  stretched 
across  the  heavens  from  north  to  south,  and 
about  five  minutes  afterwards  a  line  of  blue, 
which  was  as  straight  as  if  cut  out  with  a 
knife,  came  across  the  north  end,  running  east 
and  west.  The  combination  made  a  very 
striking  similitude  to  an  American  flag. 

At  the  waterworks  in  Jacksonville  there  was 
a  pond  in  which  lived  an  alligator  of  variously 
estimated  lengths  and  age.  One  day  while  1 
was  idly  watching  the  game  fish  which  also 
inhabited  the  pool,  the  keeper  brought  the 
saurian's  noonday  lunch  in  the  shape  of  a  live 
chicken.  Coaxing  the  ugly  reptile  to  come 
nearer  the  wire  fence  proved  unavailing,  so 
the  chicken  was  thrown  about  one  foot  from 
his  snout.  Like  a  flash  the  great  mouth 
opened,  there  was  a  splash,  a  few  feathers,  a 
couple  of  gulps,  and  the  huge  head  was  rest- 


75 

ing  just  the  same  as  before,  never  moving  an 
eye.  The  slang  expression  of  "  you  can't  lose 
me  when  grub  is  around  "  seemed  to  fit  his 
case  exactly. 

A  company  fund  was  now  established  for 
the  purpose  of  securing  a  greater  variety  of 
food,  building  a  mess-house,  and  to  pay  the 
cook  a  few  more  dollars  than  the  government 
provided.  The  assessment  was  50  cents  per 
month  for  each  member.  Arrangement  was 
also  made  with  a  colored  woman  to  do  the 
clothes  washing  of  the  company,  which  also 
necessitated  a  payment  of  50  cents  a  month 
per  man.  This  was  so  cheap  that  very  few 
could  not  afford  it,  and  the  wash  was  quite 
large  each  week.  The  intention  of  the  com- 
pany fund  was  to  discourage  the  purchase  of 
pies,  cakes,  ice  cream,  etc.,  all  too  frequently 
indulged  in.  Some  of  the  "  credits  "  obtained 
at  these  stores  amounted  to  $3.00  or  more, 
which  the  soldier  was  supposed  to  liquidate 
on  pay-day. 

Now  that  the  signs  pointed  to  an  early  ter- 
mination of  the  war,  the  prospect  of  getting 
to  Cuba  grew  less  and  less,  and  the  boys  com- 


76 

menced  to  turn  their  thoughts  on  pleasure.  A 
large  number  of  cameras  made  their  appear- 
ance, and  trips  were  taken  for  the  purpose  of 
getting  views  of  Florida  life.  These  pictures 
were  developed  in  Jacksonville  and  usually 
sent  home.  Some  excellent  ones  were  ob- 
tained. Trips  were  made  to  Pablo  Beach,  a 
bathing  resort  on  the  coast  to  the  east,  St. 
Augustine,  and  up  the  St.  Johns  river,  all  of 
which  were  at  reduced  rates. 

To  the  above  list  of  diversions  must  be 
added  a  wedding.  The  ceremony  took  place 
in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  tent,  and  was  between  a 
member  of  the  Second  Illinois  Regiment  and 
his  sweetheart  from  Chicago.  The  bride  was 
fair,  wore  a  white  dress,  with  bouquets  of 
orange  blossoms  at  her  belt  and  in  her  hair. 
The  groom  wore,  in  addition  to  his  uniform,  a 
high  white  collar  that  was  the  envy  of  all  the 
boys  and  white  kid  gloves,  which  must 
have  been  excruciating.  They  received  a 
great  ovation  upon  leaving.  Other  marriages 
took  place,  some  of  which  we  did  not  hear  of 
until  reaching  home.  Some  of  our  boys  were 
regular  attendants  at  church  and  sang  in  the 


COLOR  GUARD,  JACKSONVILLE,   FLA. 


77 

choirs,  being  heartily  welcomed  by  the  good 
people  of  Jacksonville. 

Early  one  Saturday  morning  Corporals 
Cohen,  Rusk  and  myself  decided  upon  a 
trip  to  St.  Augustine.  Inspection  of  quarters 
was  completed  at  8.30  a.  m.  and  we  imme- 
diately proceeded  to  Jacksonville  to  take  the 
train  south,  there  being  no  other  duties  dur- 
ing the  day.  The  fare  to  soldiers  had  been  re- 
duced one-half,  or  50  cents,  which  fact  enabled 
large  numbers  of  soldiers  to  take  advantage  of 
the  trip.  This  day  was  no  exception,  and  the 
cars  were  crowded.  We  went  to  the  front  of 
the  train  and  there  found  an  empty  coach, 
save  for  two  or  three  negroes.  We  decided 
that  we  were  extremely  fortunate  indeed.  The 
rear  was  partitioned  off  for  baggage.  The 
conductor  happened  through  and  asked  us  if 
we  could  not  find  room  in  the  rear  cars.  We 
were  surprised,  but  answered  that  we  might 
have  found  room  on  the  "  roof."  After  he 
had  left  it  dawned  upon  us  that  this  was  a  car 
portioned  off  for  negroes,  as  members  of  this 
race  only  came  into  it,  so  we  very  graciously 
asked  those  in  the  car  if  they  had  any  objec- 


78 

tions  to  our  staying  there.  The  courtesy  took 
them  so  much  by  surprise  that  they  could  only 
stare  at  us  for  answer.  So  we  took  our  seats 
again  and  prepared  to  enjoy  ourselves. 

After  a  half  hour's  wait  we  were  fairly 
started,  only  to  stop  every  few  miles  to  side- 
track and  allow  other  trains  to  pass.  These 
waits  became  so  numerous  that  it  was  nearly 
noon  before  we  reached  St.  Augustine  and 
were  just  one  and  one-half  hours  behind 
schedule. 

All  the  way  down  the  forests  seemed  fresher 
and  the  flowers  grew  more  thickly  among  the 
pines.  The  absence  of  charred,  blackened 
areas  was  also  noticeable. 

The  city,  seen  from  a  distance,  reminded  one 
strongly  of  a  city  of  the  Moors,  for  above  the 
trees  rose  a  bewildering  labyrinth  of  towers 
and  minarets,  which  carried  us  back  to  the 
charming  descriptions  in  Irving's  "Mahomet" 
and  "  Granada."  We  alighted  at  a  very  pretty 
and  airy  station  surrounded  by  large  beds  of 
flowers  and  tropical  plants.  Among  the  many 
importuning  jehus  we  selected  one  who  took 
us  free  to  a  restaurant.  The  ebony  driver  was 
very  loquacious;  laughed  when  we  laughed 


79 

and  interspersed  gratis  information  which  was 
highly  interesting.  We  jested  at  the  boys 
along  the  streets  not  so  fortunate  as  we,  and 
tried  to  cheer  them  up  with  the  assurance  that 
it  was  five  miles  at  least  to  the  nearest  "  grub." 
The  air  was  remarkably  clear  and  bracing, 
and  is  so  all  the  year  round.  Every  garden 
seemed  a  mass  of  color.  Oleanders  were 
everywhere,  filling  the  air  with  their  spicy 
breath,  drooping  their  great  bowers  of  blos- 
soms over  the  sidewalks.  Every  home  had  its 
well-kept  lawns  and  shade  trees,  some  with 
fountains  playing  enhanced  the  beauty  of  the 
place.  The  Memorial  Presbyterian  Church  is 
very  handsome,  and  contains  one  of  the  finest 
organs  in  the  South.  H.  M.  Flagler  built 
this  church  in  1890  in  memory  of  his  daughter, 
and  it  is  supposed  to  have  cost  $250,000.  A  lit- 
tle to  the  east  is  the  Baptist  church,  built  a  few 
years  later,  with  its  heavy  impressive  front  and 
tall,  square  tower,  preserving  the  sedate  archi- 
tecture of  this  denomination,  while  conform- 
ing to  the  general  tendency  to  things  Moorish. 
But  here  on  our  right  is  one  of  the  most  mag- 
nificent hotels  of  the  South,  the  Ponce  de 


8o 

Leon,  which  stands  alone  the  most  handsome 
and  unique  of  its  kind  in  the  United  States. 
Built  upon  the  style  of  the  Moorish  palaces  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  its  architecture  is  at 
once  voluptuous  and  elegant, — towers  and 
minarets  shooting  up  here  and  there.  Its 
massive  iron  gates  and  chains  with  spiked 
balls,  heavy  oaken  doors,  courts,  balconies, 
and  marbled  walks,  are  richly  carved  in  Moor- 
ish figures.  The  gardens  surrounding  it  are 
only  such  as  a  tropical  climate  can  produce. 
Stately  palmettos  and  palms  shoot  up  their 
feathery  tops  above  graceful  bananas  lazily 
waving  their  plumes  in  the  fresh  sea  breeze; 
huge  masses  of  oleanders,  which  here  seem 
to  reach  their  perfection,  bending  beneath  the 
weight  of  their  blossoms,  formed  arches  of 
exquisite  beauty  across  the  walks;  century 
plants,  orange  trees  with  leaves  of  the  softest 
green  imaginable  while  underneath  were 
clusters  of  fruit  of  a  still  darker  color,  re- 
minders of  a  golden  harvest.  Hydrangeas  of 
enormous  size,  the  leaves  of  which  were  en- 
tirely hidden  by  the  great  tresses  of  pink  and 
blue  flowers,— were  scattered  profusely  in  all 


8i 

directions.  Roses  seemed  to  grow  every- 
where, climbing  over  fences,  into  trees,  up 
the  sides  of  buildings — handsome  ones  that  are 
strangers  to  northerners  who  have  slim  purses ; 
and  right  in  the  midst  of  all  this  beauty  of  color 
were  playing  fountains  sending  sprays  of  silver 
ten  and  fifteen  feet  high.  It  is  a  veritable 
Garden  of  Eden.  Henry  M.  Flagler  is  the 
controlling  spirit  in  this  beautiful  palace,  as 
he  is  in  the  other  hotels,  the  massive  Cordova 
and  beautiful  Alcazar,  with  their  lovely  gar- 
dens and  fountains.  Mr.  Flagler's  influence 
extends  over  the  greater  part  of  the  east  coast 
in  hotels  and  railroads  of  this  famous  winter- 
ing State. 

The  older  part  of  the  town  lies  along  the 
water  front,  just  as  the  Spaniards  had  planned 
the  city.  On  our  left  was  an  old  building 
formerly  used  as  a  barracks,  but  now  devoted 
to  the  manufacture  of  cigars  and  quite  di- 
lapidated. On  the  right  stood  a  large  square 
building  which  many  times  resounded  with  the 
laughter  and  possible  braggadocio  of  the  cava- 
lier, for  this  was  the  residence  of  the  Governor- 
General  of  the  Floridas.  It  is  now  used  as 
the  post-office. 


82 

Our  interesting  guide  announced  that  before 
us  was  the  Plaza,  where  the  landing  of  Menen- 
dez  was  celebrated  September  7,  1565,  amid 
the  thunder  of  artillery  and  the  blasts  of  trum- 
pets, with  the  banner  of  Castile  and  Aragon 
unfurled.  He  immediately  ordered  the  cele- 
bration of  mass,  while  his  soldiers  chanted  the 
Te  Deum.  He  named  the  place  St.  Augus- 
tine, for  he  had  sighted  land  on  the  feast  day 
of  that  saint.  The  celebration  of  mass  in  this 
old  city  has  been  kept  up  uninterruptedly  for 
333  years.  The  old  Cathedral  with  its  four 
chimes  (one  of  which  has  the  date  1682) 
hanging  from  bars  in  niches  of  the  steeple, 
give  a  truly  Spanish  flavor  to  the  surround- 
ings. The  present  old  building  was  built  in 
1793;  the  original  one  having  been  destroyed 
by  fire  the  previous  year.  A  monument  in 
the  center  of  the  Plaza  marks  the  commemora- 
tion of  the  adoption  of  the  Spanish  consti- 
tution of  1812;  also  a  monument  of  the 
Florida  soldiers  of  the  civil  war  stands  here. 
Across  the  street  on  the  right  is  Trinity  Epis- 
copal Church,  consecrated  in  1833  by  Bishop 
Bowen  of  South  Carolina. 


83 

Our  restaurant  now  appearing-,  our  interest 
in  the  "  most  ancient  city  "  suddenly  lapsed 
over  the  prospect  of  a  good  dinner.  We  had 
a  chance  to  wash  and  then  partook  of  a  fine  re- 
past, the  like  of  which  we  had  not  seen  since 
leaving"  home.  Fine  bread,  green  corn,  roast 
lamb  and  golden  butter,  and  to  crown  all,  a 
heaping  saucer  of  ice  cream,  and  all  for  25 
cents. 

In  the  Plaza  before  mentioned  stands  a 
shed,  covering  a  platform  upon  which  for  over 
200  years  slaves  were  bought  and  sold,  and 
many  a  heart-rending  scene  took  place  there. 
The  powder  magazines  of  the  Spanish  were 
pointed  out  to  us ;  now  a  barracks  for  a  battery 
of  artillery ;  also  the  oldest  house  in  the  United 
States,  and  now  so  improved  (?)  that  hardly 
any  of  the  quaint  architecture  is  apparent.  It 
is  at  present  owned  by  a  Dr.  Carver. 

Two  monuments  on  St.  Francis  street  com- 
memorate the  Dade  massacre  in  December, 
1835;  Major  Dade,  Captain  Frazer  and  one 
hundred  men,  after  a  desperate  resistance, 
were  mercilessly  slaughtered  by  the  Seminoles 
under  Micanopy,  an  Indian  who,  tradition 


84 

says,  "  could  eat  a  calf  at  one  sitting,  and 
then  coil  up  like  a  snake  "  to  digest  the  re- 
past. Osceola,  chief  of  the  Seminoles,  slew 
General  Thompson,  the  Indian  Agent,  and 
then  waged  a  ruthless  war  which  ended  only 
after  the  Okeechobee  battle  had  been  fought 
and  the  celebrated  chief  captured.  We  were 
now  going  through  streets  lined  with  fine 
residences  and  gardens.  Some  of  the  banana 
trees  were  in  blossom  while  others  had  small 
green  bunches  hanging  from  the  topmost 
boughs.  Oranges  were  abundant.  Date 
palms  waved  their  feathery  crests  at  us,  but 
above  all  were  the  beauty  and  fragrance  of  the 
oleanders. 

Now  we  came  in  sight  of  what  everybody 
comes  here  to  see,  the  old  Fort.  Almost 
before  we  were  aware  of  it  we  were  at  the  cele- 
brated gates,  which  are  built  of  stone  and 
formed  part  of  the  line  of  defence  projected  at 
the  time  the  Fort  was  built.  There  are  niches 
or  sentry  boxes  in  each  gate,  where  undoubt- 
edly the  sentries  found  shelter  from  the 
weather.  We  tramped  up  the  hill  to  the  Fort 
and  were  struck  at  once  by  the  peculiar  sub- 


85 

stance  with  which  it  is  built.  On  Anastansia 
Island  across  the  bay  are  quarries  from  which 
this  substance  "  Coquina "  or  shell  rock  is 
dug.  Double  walls  were  built  of  stone  and 
broken  stone  and  Coquina  were  rammed  down 
between  them.  This  wall  being  of  such  pe- 
culiar composition  would  impact  the  shot,  and 
would  prevent  it  from  splintering  or  cracking. 
We  entered  over  the  drawbridge  and  were  con- 
fronted by  the  arms  of  Castile  and  Aragon 
over  the  portcullis.  Here  was  legitimate 
Spanish  prey.  Why  not  capture  it?  But  the 
eye  of  the  Ordnance  Sergeant  is  upon  us. 
The  pulley  and  beams  which  raised  and  held 
the  drawbridge  across  the  moat  are  still  in  the 
walls.  We  are  now  in  the  court  or  assembly 
place.  On  the  right  are  two  guard  rooms  and 
a  dungeon.  In  this  dungeon  Osceola  was 
confined  and  niches  cut  in  the  wall  by  him  for 
the  purpose  of  looking  out  on  the  court  are 
shown.  The  next  door  contains  an  old 
Spanish  lock  of  considerable  size.  The  iron 
framework  of  the  door  is  still  intact,  but  has 
been  filled  in  with  new  wood.  The  next  room 


86 

is  the  chapel  and  a  niche  for  the  patron  saint 
Augustine.  Here  mass  was  said  and  mar- 
riages performed.  A  part  of  the  timbers  sup- 
porting the  choir  loft  is  still  there.  In  the 
next  room  holes  in  the  wall  indicate  where 
crosses,  thumb-screws  and  other  instruments 
of  fiendish  torture  of  the  inquisition  were 
placed.  Rings  to  which  chains  were  attached 
are  still  in  the  walls.  A  torch  was  now  lighted 
and  we  entered  from  the  last  room  into  one  of 
utter  darkness,  save  a  window  for  ventilation 
eighteen  feet  from  the  ground.  It  was  from 
this  room  that  the  two  Seminole  chiefs,  Wild- 
cat and  Hadjo  escaped  through  that  very 
window,  the  bars  of  which  were  scarce  twelve 
inches  apart,  and  made  a  leap  of  thirty  feet  to 
the  ground  on  the  outside.  The  guide  called 
to  us  to  follow,  and  led  us  through  an  aperture 
six  feet  high  and  two  and  a  half  feet  wide. 
This  room  is  five  feet  by  twenty  and  fifteen 
feet  high.  We  take  this  size  from  our  guide, 
for  we  can  see  nothing.  Then  he  bade  us 
stoop  low  and  follow  closely.  We  were  be- 
ginning to  have  a  creepy  feeling  about  the 
roots  of  our  hair,  and  this  increased  after 


87 

emerging  from  an  entrance  four  and  a  half  by 
three  feet  wide.  The  air  is  oppressive  and  the 
sepulchral  tones  of  the  guide  announces  that 
this  room  was  not  known  to  exist  until  it  had 
been  in  possession  of  the  United  States  for 
fourteen  years.  It  is  twenty  feet  long,  thir- 
teen feet  wide  and  seven  feet  high.  With  the 
entrance  closed,  death  would  occur  in  about 
fifteen  minutes.  In  the  outer  room  through 
which  we  stumbled,  tradition  says  two  skele- 
tons, male  and  female,  were  found  hanging 
in  cages  nailed  to  the  wall.  The  incredulous 
are  shown  the  nail  holes.  These  dungeons 
were  used  probably  to  a  considerable  extent 
during  the  inquisition.  At  each  of  the  four 
corners  of  the  fort  is  a  watch  tower,  named  re- 
spectively St.  Peter,  St.  Paul,  St.  Charles  and 
St.  Augustine,  into  each  of  which  curiosity  led 
us. 

The  broad  terreplein  furnishes  one  of  the 
finest  promenades  imaginable,  the  ocean 
being  plainly  visible  over  Anastasia  Island, 
while  the  freshest  of  sea  breezes  neutralize  the 
intense  heat  of  the  sun.  One  hundred  and 
ninety-one  years  is  the  record  of  labor  on  this 


88 

fortification.  For  sixty  years  the  Apalachian 
Indians  were  compelled  to  work  upon  it  and 
to  their  efforts  are  probably  due  the  immense 
labor  of  construction. 

We  had  now  "  done "  the  Ancient  City 
pretty  thoroughly,  so  we  again  took  our  car- 
riage, obtained  another  square  meal  and 
boarded  the  train,  arriving  in  camp  as  taps 
were  sounding.  The  Spaniards  were  fond  of 
bombast  and  high-sounding  phrases.  Here  is 
a  proclamation  issued  by  the  Governor  upon 
landing  in  St.  Augustine: 

"I,  Panfilo  de  Narvaez,  cause  to  be  known  to 
you  how  God  created  the  world  and  charged 
St.  Peter  to  be  the  Sovereign  of  all  men  in 
whatever  country  they  might  be  born.  God 
gave  him  the  whole  world  for  his  inheritance. 
One  of  his  successors  made  it  a  gift  to  the 
King  and  Queen  of  Spain  so  that  the  Indians 
are  their  subjects.  You  will  be  compelled  to 
accept  Christianity.  If  you  refuse  and  delay 
agreeing  to  what  I  have  proposed  to  you,  I 
will  march  against  you.  I  will  subject  you  to 
obedience  to  the  Church  and  his  Majesty.  I 
will  obtain  possession  of  your  wives  and  chil- 


8g 

dren.  I  will  reduce  you  to  slavery,  and  the 
blood  be  upon  your  own  head.  Amen." 

When  Menendez  landed,  he  took  possession 
of  the  whole  Western  Hemisphere  in  the  name 
of  the  King  of  Spain,  and  this  present  year  has 
seen  the  grand  finale  of  the  act  begun  with 
great  pomp  in  1565. 

One  Sunday  afternoon  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
tent  General  O.  O.  Howard  made  an  address 
to  the  boys  which  was  brimming  with  patriot- 
ism and  recited  a  pathetic  anecdote  of  a 
young  lieutenant  of  artillery  who  at  Gettys- 
burg was  wounded  and  bled  to  death.  I  wras 
very  proud  to  grasp  the  left  hand  of  the  old 
hero  whose  eyes  had  flashed  fire  in  a  dozen 
fierce  and  bloody  battles  of  the  civil  war. 

In  due  course  of  events  the  mess-house  be- 
came a  reality.  It  was  48  by  18,  roofed  over, 
the  sides  being  open.  It  contained  two  long 
tables  and  seated  about  one  hundred.  Here 
the  boys  would  congregate.  The  incoming 
mail  was  distributed  here,  and  the  assorting  of 
the  laundry  also. 

Brigade  drills  in  battle  formation  took  place 
now  quite  frequently.  This  formation  consists 


90 

of  sending  out  scouts,  flankers,  firing  line,  sup- 
ports and  reserves.  At  7.30  a.  m.  the  compa- 
nies were  formed  into  battalions,  the  battalions 
into  regiments,  and  the  regiments  into 
brigade  while  they  marched  towards  the  field. 
Our  brigade  (the  First)  consisted  of  the  First 
North  Carolina,  Second  New  Jersey  and 
Second  Illinois.  As  we  passed  out  of  our 
camp  we  met  the  First  North  Carolina,  which 
preceded  us,  and  the  Second  Illinois  followed 
as  we  passed  their  camp.  Route  step  had 
been  ordered,  for  it  was  hot  and  the  order  from 
General  Burt  was  to  make  it  as  little  burden- 
some as  possible.  It  was  a  very  picturesque 
march.  The  men  rolled  up  their  sleeves, 
loosened  their  gunslings,  and  thrust  their 
arms  between  them  and  the  barrels  with  the 
butts  up,  barrel  pointing  down  across  the 
thigh.  Others  carried  their  rifles  reversed  to 
the  above,  then  again  laid  them  across  the  top 
of  both  shoulders. 

Imagine  the  picture  those  three  thousand 
men  made  winding  in  columns  over  bridges, 
through  defiles,  over  fields,  and  through  pine 
groves.  Here  we  see  the  head  of  the  column 


going  up  that  hill  with  General  Burt  and  staff 
leading.  The  General  is  a  small  man,  has  a 
light  grey  moustache  and  keen  eyes.  He  does 
not  get  excited, — always  has  a  calm  expres- 
sion. His  staff  are  around  him,  all  men  of 
superior  build  but  inferior  rank.  Every  once 
in  a  while  one  of  these  will  receive  an  order 
and  instantly  scurry  away.  Now  come  the 
men  of  the  First  North  Carolina  in  uniforms 
of  dark  navy;  but  suddenly  our  view  is  shut 
out,  for  we  are  passing  through  an  unused 
railroad  cut  and  we  see  only  a  short  distance 
ahead  of  us. 

But  see!  There  goes  the  first  battalion  of 
our  own  Second  across  that  high  railroad 
bank,  and  then  they  disappear  down  its  side. 
We  look  sharp  now,  for  we  are  going  over  a 
corduroy  road  over  a  stream.  This  is  made 
of  tree  trunks  with  their  branches  thrown  be- 
tween to  fill  up  the  angles.  Then  we  go  up  a 
hill,  and  spread  out  before  us  in  the  fine 
groves,  are  the  North  Carolinans  in  battle 
array  along  a  wire  fence.  The  first  and  third 
battalions  of  our  regiment  move  in  behind 
them  and  form  on  their  left,  being  a  continua- 


92 

tion  of  the  firing  line.  Our  battalion  is  the 
support  of  our  regiment.  Looking  back,  we 
see  the  Illinois  boys  trudging  over  the  ground 
we  have  just  left.  We  are  getting  thoroughly 
interested  in  the  movements.  The  Second 
Illinois  marches  past,  taking  up  a  position  to 
the  left  of  our  firing  line.  We  now  have  two 
lines,  firing  line  and  supports.  Then  the  posi- 
tions are  changed.  The  Illinois  boys  are  sent 
chasing  towards  the  St.  Johns  river,  and  their 
cheers  can  be  heard.  We  advance  our 
columns,  and  soon  come  up  with  the  men  from 
the  Windy  City.  The  General  has  seen 
enough  and  orders  a  rest.  The  bugle  kindly 
sounds  the  retreat  and  we  pass  over  again  the 
same  ground  that  made  our  advance  so  pic- 
turesque. 

In  the  course  of  the  first  of  these  drills  we 
had  to  get  across  a  small  stream  by  jumping 
on  a  board  laid  in  the  middle,  and  making 
another  leap  for  safety.  This  process  delayed 
our  line  so  that  the  order  was  again  given  for 
double  time  to  close  up  the  gap.  Double  time 
under  the  best  of  conditions  is  bad  enough,  but 
at  9  a.  m.  on  that  morning  the  heat  was  fierce. 


93 

We  ran  about  one  thousand  yards  and  then 
felt  as  if  a  downy  bed  at  home  would  just 
about  fill  the  bill.  However,  we  got  over  it 
all  right  and  it  has  now  become  part  of  our 
stock  of  anecdotes. 

A  rifle  range  had  been  established  about 
two  miles  from  camp  under  the  able  super- 
vision of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Currie,  assisted 
by  Capt.  Geo.  E.  Wells  and  the  men  of  G 
Company.  The  range  was  used  by  the  regi- 
ments composing  the  Seventh  Army  Corps, 
each  one  going  to  the  range  once  in  every 
twenty-five  days.  It  was  in  many  respects 
similar  to  our  State  range  at  Sea  Girt;  but  in- 
stead of  a  background  of  sea  and  sky  which 
did  not  afford  any  relief  to  the  eyes  upon  the 
long  ranges,  we  had  here  dense  pine  trees  and 
a  high  hill  behind  the  targets,  which  brought 
them  out  very  distinctly.  These  targets  were 
in  the  shape  of  a  man  kneeling  and  the  same 
size  as  those  used  at  Sea  Girt.  They  revolved 
instead  of  sliding  up  and  down  when  struck. 
Corporal  Rusk,  Artificer  Doerflinger,  and 
Private  Val.  Greuter  of  our  company  were  em- 
ployed for  two  weeks  in  their  construction. 


94 

Thursday,  July  26th,  we  were  hustled  out 
early,  and  each  man  received  five  blank  car- 
tridges. We  all  knew  what  that  meant,  and 
our  blood  tingled  through  our  veins  in  great 
shape.  We  marched  in  company  with  one 
battalion  of  the  Second  Illinois  to  the  grounds 
in  the  near  vicinity  of  our  range  and  immedi- 
ately formed  in  battle  array.  We  were  op- 
posed by  the  First  North  Carolina  and  two 
battalions  of  the  Second  Illinois.  Scouts  and 
flankers  were  sent  out  from  our  company,  the 
latter  in  charge  of  Sergeant  Van  Roden. 
Skirmishers  under  Sergeant  Dabinett  then  ad- 
vanced. The  balance  of  the  company  were 
ordered  to  deploy  and  lie  down.  Soon  shots 
were  fired  in  front,  then  came  shots  from 
the  right,  as  the  scouts  met  the  enemy  and 
were  driven  in.  Heavy  volleys  followed,  and 
nearer  and  nearer  they  came.  The  trees  and 
undergrowth  were  so  thick  we  could  not  see 
very  far  ahead.  Finally  a  volley  was  fired  on 
our  right  center,  then  we  saw  Sergeant  Dabi- 
nett and  his  skirmishers  running  in,  perspira- 
tion streaming  down  their  faces.  Immediately 
the  supports  returned  the  fire  and  we  were 


95 

soon  enveloped  in  smoke.  Lieutenant  Brun- 
ner's  command  rang  out,  and  we  deployed,  ex- 
tending the  firing  line, — all  were  now  in 
action.  Our  boys  were  remarkably  steady  in 
their  volley  firing.  Additional  flankers  were 
thrown  out  on  our  left  and  it  was  quite  amus- 
ing to  see  the  enemy's  heads  duck  when  a 
dozen  shots  were  fired  at  them  from  an  unex- 
pected quarter.  This  finally  brought  forth  a 
volley  from  the  enemy,  who  had  been  under 
cover,  whereupon  we  fell  back  to  the  main 
body,  while  the  enemy  advanced;  but  the  re- 
call was  sounded  and  the  "  battle  "  was  over. 

July  3  ist  Private  Guy  L.  Fake  was  ap- 
pointed Colonel  Hine's  orderly.  This  was  a 
position  highly  prized  by  the  men,  as  the  best 
appearing  private  was  selected  to  fill  it  from 
the  guard  detail  of  over  fifty. 

A  party  of  our  boys  went  crabbing  in  the 
St.  Johns  river  and  brought  back  201  crabs. 
These  were  distributed  and  we  had  quite  a 
feast.  Company  F's  men  caught  225.  The 
residents  told  us  they  were  unfit  to  eat,  but  we 
proved  to  them  that  they  were. 

We  found  in  our  travels  very  few  fruits 


96 

and  vegetables  where  we  had  expected  to 
find  an  abundance.  In  the  market  in  Jack- 
sonville we  could  see  plenty  of  vegetables;  but 
when  we  intimated  to  the  dealers  that  the  po- 
tatoes, cabbages,  onions  and  carrots  looked 
about  like  they  did  farther  north,  they  laughed 
and  said:  "  Well,  I  shouldn't  wonder,  for  they 
came  from  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania."  A 
great  many  of  the  small  fruits,  such  as  black- 
berries, raspberries  and  strawberries,  came 
from  Georgia.  Peaches  alone  were  plentiful. 
Persimmons  were  occasionally  seen.  Tropical 
fruits,  of  course,  were  very  abundant.  The 
orange  trees  in  this  section  were  killed  by 
the  great  frost  of  1895,  but  were  begin- 
ning to  bear  again.  The  tree  was  as  com- 
mon a  sight  as  our  pear  and  apple  trees. 
Watermelons  were  so  plentiful  that  the  market 
was  glutted  with  them,  and  5  cents  would  buy 
as  large  a  one  as  could  be  lifted.  The  store- 
keepers cautioned  us  not  to  buy  the  small  ripe 
ones.  They  having  been  of  slower  growth, 
contained  more  of  the  impurities  of  the  soil 
and  were  consequently  more  liable  to  cause 


97 

fevers.    After  August  ist  the  sale  of  melons 
was  prohibited. 

The  sweet  potatoes  were  considerably 
darker  than  those  grown  farther  north  and 
much  sweeter.  The  colored  people  made  very 
good  pies  out  of  them,  which  they  peddled  in 
the  camp.  These  pies  were  quite  similar  to 
our  pumpkin  pies  in  appearance.  With  this 
scarcity  of  fruits  and  vegetables  it  was  no 
wonder  that  we  jumped  for  joy  when  a  box 
was  received  from  home  which  contained, 
among  other  things,  a  can  of  preserved  black- 
berries and  three  solid  cucumbers,  the  seed  of 
which  latter  had  been  planted  by  the  writer 
when  home  on  furlough  the  day  before  the 
regiment  started  south. 


PART  FIFTH 


AUGUST  J898 
ITS  BRIGHT  AND  GLOOMY  DAYS 

/"VN  Tuesday  evening,  August  2d,  the  of- 
ficers of  the  regiment  gave  a  lawn  party 
in  camp.  A  platform  was  built  in  front  of 
Colonel  Hine's  tent,  and  trees  and  shrubbery 
surrounded  it  in  such  a  natural  way  that  one 
would  have  thought  it  had  been  placed  in  a 
grove.  The  affair  was  quite  successful  and 
was  graced  by  the  presence  of  General  Lee  and 
staff,  with  the  Generals  and  Colonels  of  the 
different  brigades  and  regiments  encamped 
here,  besides  notables  from  Jacksonville. 

Thursday,  August  4th,  we  had  another 
sham  battle,  and  this  time  we  were  the  at- 
tacking force,  composed  of  our  regiment  and 
one  battalion  of  the  First  North  Carolina. 
Opposed  to  us  on  the  defensive  were  two  bat- 
talions of  the  First  North  Carolina  and  the 
Second  Illinois  regiment.  About  one  mile 
from  camp  our  advance  guard  came  upon  the 
enemy  concealed  in  a  ravine,  along  which  they 


102 

had  deployed,  and  a  rapid  exchange  of  shots 
took  place.  Company  after  company  of  our 
regiment  were  deployed  on  the  run  to  their 
skirmish  lines.  As  each  company  arrived  ft 
immediately  engaged  the  enemy.  Our  com- 
pany being  last  in  order  of  march,  we  had 
longer  to  run,  and  we  were  placed  far  on  the 
enemy's  right.  In  fact,  we  succeeded  com- 
pletely in  turning  their  right  flank  back,  so 
that  their  whole  line  was  like  a  bent  bow. 
Our  company  pushed  through  and  over 
fences  and  came  upon  the  enemy  lying 
behind  a  fence  at  thf,  rear  of  a  house.  Here 
the  fire  was  the  hottest,  and  at  one  time  our 
lines  were  within  fifty  feet  of  each  other,  but 
just  able  to  see  through  the  bushes  that  lined 
the  yard. 

The  boys  nicknamed  this  "  the  back-yard 
skirmish."  Reinforcements  arriving,  we 
gradually  extended  our  lines,  so  that  the  foe 
were  having  a  hot  fire  upon  three  sides  at 
once.  Expecting  a  general  advance  along  the 
lines  at  this  time,  we  held  our  fire,  as  only  ten 
blank  cartridges  had  been  given  us  and  we 
had  used  up  nearly  all  of  them.  We  lay  on 


103 

the  ground  in  the  hot  sun,  perspiring  from 
every  pore,  expecting  every  minute  to  receive 
the  word.  Rapid  firing  was  going  on  on  our 
extreme  left  and  center  and  away  off  to  the 
right  the  volleys  were  thundering. 

This  was  a  sore  temptation  to  the  boys,  who 
every  once  in  a  while  popped  away  wherever 
they  saw  a  head  emerge  from  the  tall  grass, 
and  it  delighted  them  greatly  to  see  the  in- 
dividual drop  as  he  heard  the  report,  seem- 
ingly ashamed  to  find  that  the  other  fellow  had 
the  "  drop  "  on  him.  Sudden  cheering  from 
the  center  was  the  signal  for  our  advance. 
This  time  we  only  ran  about  ten  yards 
and  then  dropped  like  a  flash,  for  the  enemy 
was  about  to  pour  a  volley  into  us.  Just 
at  this  moment  the  bugle  sounded  the 
"  cease  firing "  and  then  the  "  assembly." 
When  the  firing  ceased  we  had  our  opponents 
nearly  surrounded.  One  man  was  hurt  slight- 
ly with  a  bayonet.  It  was  a  great  victory 
for  the  Second  New  Jersey.  Lieutenant  Brun- 
ner,  the  only  one  of  Company  L's  officers 
present,  had  a  hard  time  trying  to  keep  his 
command  under  control,  and  succeeded  ex- 


104 

tremely  well,  deserving  the  highest  praise,  the 
non-commissioned  officers  and  men  conform- 
ing to  his  commands  promptly  and  with 
energy. 

Friday  morning  at  company  drill  Lieuten- 
ant Brunner  sent  the  first  platoon  out  through 
the  woods  and  five  minutes  later  the  second  to 
find  the  first.  The  second,  under  Sergeant 
Van  Roden,  took  a  short  cut  to  intercept  the 
first,  which  was  under  Sergeant  Charles  Da- 
binett,  and  this  was  what  happened:  We  (the 
second)  took  post  behind  a  shed  in  a  deserted 
yard.  I  was  stationed  with  four  men  along  a 
fence  from  which  some  of  the  boards  were 
missing.  Sergeant  Collins,  with  Private  Craig 
and  two  others,  went  out  and  as  the  first  pla- 
toon appeared  these  four  set  up  a  great  shout- 
ing, luring  them  on  past  our  ambuscade.  The 
long  legged  men  of  the  first  were  so  intent 
upon  coming  up  with  the  second,  represented 
by  Sergeant  Collins  and  three  men,  whose 
heads  only  could  be  seen  above  the  tall  grass 
and  bushes,  that  one  section  under  Corporal 
Cohen  went  fairly  and  squarely  into  the  trap 
set  for  them.  But,  unlike  the  rough  riders, 


they  could  not  get  out  again,  for  my  detail, 
getting  in  their  rear  and  being  reinforced  by 
the  rest  of  the  platoon,  they  were  soon  dis- 
armed. The  first  section  with  Sergeant  Da- 
binett  coming  to  their  relief  were  also  taken 
into  camp. 

Lessons  of  this  sort  were  likely  to  be  of 
great  benefit  to  the  boys,  especially  as  parts 
of  our  company  were  usually  thrown  out  as 
flankers  for  the  regiment,  and  taught  them  to 
be  on  their  guard  continually. 

Towards  the  middle  of  August  the  climate 
began  to  tell  on  the  boys.  During  June  the 
ground  was  very  dry  and  the  atmosphere  was 
clear  and  full  of  the  odor  of  pines.  In  July 
the  rains  commenced,  and  hardly  did  the 
torrent  cease  before  the  sun  set  everything 
steaming.  Vapor  at  night  rose  from  the 
ground  in  greater  quantities  and  it  was  not 
long  before  the  hospitals  were  taxed  to  their 
utmost.  In  a  great  many  cases  home  sickness 
would  lead  the  way,  while  in  others  it  was 
excesses.  The  number  became  so  great  that 
details  from  each  company  were  sent  to  the 
hospital  as  assistants. 


io6 

The  sickness  was  also  felt  among  the 
officers.  During  Captain  Ely's  leave  of 
absence  Lieutenant  Blake  was  taken  down 
with  malarial  fever  and  procured  leave  to  go 
up  the  St.  Johns  to  weather  the  malady.  In 
the  midst  of  this  season  of  sickness  (although 
not  the  worst  by  far)  occurred  the  passing 
away  of  Private  Jacob  Kotzenberg  of  typhoid, 
the  first  patriot  of  our  command  and  the 
second  in  the  regiment,  just  upon  the  eve  of 
dawning  peace.  He  was  buried  with  honors 
near  his  home  after  befitting  services,  both  at 
Jacksonville  and  Rutherford.  This  death 
stirred  our  people  greatly  and  set  them  all  to 
thinking.  The  peace  preliminaries  had  been 
signed  and  our  victorious  armies  and  navy  en- 
joined from  making  further  hostile  advances. 
The  return  of  the  soldiers  was  eagerly  dis- 
cussed, for  it  was  felt  that  others  in  our 
southern  army  might  pass  away  at  any  time. 

One  week  had  hardly  passed  when  two 
more  of  our  comrades  gave  up  their  lives. 
Dread  typhoid  hovered  over  the  camp  and 
only  the  most  hardy  withstood  its  withering 
touch.  These  devoted  lives  were  Private 


107 

Henry  Newman  of  Paterson  and  Corporal 
Bennett  Cohen  of  Rutherford.  The  latter  was 
my  tent  mate  and  warm  friend  and  I  knew  him 
best.  At  no  other  time  during  our  service 
had  such  a  desolate  feeling  spread  over  our 
camp.  It  rained  frequently,  the  nights  were 
gloomy  and  damp,  and  some  of  our  most 
popular  boys  had  gone  to  the  hospital. 

Our  folks  at  home  were  clamoring  for  our 
return.  Horrible  stories  were  afloat  there  of 
our  treatment.  The  unhealthfulness  of  the 
camp  was  such  and  lately  such  terrific 
downpours  of  rain  had  flooded  everything, 
that  camps  on  lower  ground  had  be- 
come untenantable,  so  one  morning  when 
we  found  that  our  neighbor,  the  Second 
Virginia,  had  packed  up  and  moved  far- 
ther west,  we  felt  that  something  must 
be  done  to  break  the  monotonous  gloomy 
aspect.  Our  boys  were  sickening  rapidly,  and 
only  a  few  days  before  one  of  our  most  popu- 
lar corporals  had  been  taken  from  the  street  a 
hopeless  case.  We  knew  it  as  we  saw  him  de- 
part and  pitied  the  poor  fellow. 


io8 

Soon  after  our  arrival  at  camp  orders  had 
been  issued  prescribing  a  method  of  drying 
the  ground  under  the  tents,  which  had  been 
provided  with  board  floors.  Strange  to  say, 
this  order  had  been  overlooked  up  to  the 
present  time,  when  it  was  enforced,  and  dur- 
ing the  day  the  tents  were  shifted  and  the 
floors  raised.  Lime  which  was  obtained  at 
the  Commissary's  was  liberally  sprinkled 
around.  The  deaths  in  our  Company  proved 
that  it  was  not  the  best  thing  in  the  world  to 
sleep  near  the  ground,  from  which  rose  mala- 
rial vapors.  Sergeants  Clift,  Dabinett,  Collins 
and  Baxter,  and  Corporals  Rusk  and  myself 
slept  on  cots  and  in  hammocks  and  we 
kept  good  health,  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  Corporals  Cohen  and  Roe  and  Privates 
Kotzenburg  and  Newman  had  slept  on  the 
ground.  One  evening  my  hammock  broke 
and  I  lay  on  the  floor  the  rest  of  the 
night.  The  next  morning  I  awoke  with 
a  decidedly  heavy,  listless  feeling  and 
made  haste  to  mend  my  hammock,  for 
I  attributed  that  feeling  to  lying  so  near  the 
earth.  The  camps  all  around  had  their  tent 


PABLO  BEACH,  FLA. 

AND  SOON   NOT   FORTY  MEN  OUT  OF   101    ANSWERED 
THE    ROLL." 


109 

floors  two  and  three  feet  off  the  ground,  and 
in  nearly  all  the  regiments  which  were  under 
trees  platforms  were  built  in  them  on  which 
the  boys  slept. 

One  morning,  instead  of  a  monotonous 
drill,  the  Company  marched  out  into  the 
country  past  the  campg  of  regiments  which 
had  departed.  In  the  Fourth  Illinois  camp 
the  pools  of  water  were  knee  deep  and  a 
bridge  had  been  built  to  connect  two  bat- 
talions. This  Regiment  suffered  greatly.  It 
was  under  such  conditions  as  these  that  the 
welcome  order  was  received  directing  our 
Company  to  proceed  to  Pablo  Beach  on 
provost  duty.  This  beach  is  one  of  the  finest 
along  the  Atlantic  coast  and  extends  for 
eighteen  miles  north  and  south.  Parties  fre- 
quently make  the  trip  to  St.  Augustine  in  car- 
riages along  its  entire  length.  Bright  and 
early  Friday,,  August  23d,  baggage  and  knap- 
sacks were  loaded  on  army  wagons  and  eight 
o'clock  found  us  moving  towards  Jacksonville 
to  take  ferry  and  train  to  the  seashore.  The 
handsome  uniform  of  our  regiment  was  al- 
ways a  subject  of  remark  whenever  we  turned 


no 

out  for  parade.  This  consisted  of  buff  cam- 
paign hats,  dark  blue  blouse,  light  blue 
trousers,  with  white  stripes  for  the  officers  and 
non-coms,  brown  leggings,  and  in  beautiful 
contrast  was  our  red  blanket  in  a  roll  from 
the  left  shoulder  to  the  right  hip.  Our  fancy 
friends  of  the  Twenty-second  and  Twenty- 
third  New  York  Regiments  could  not  beat 
that  combination. 

Our  spirits  had  been  rising  higher  and 
higher  and  on  the  boat  songs  and  jests  livened 
things  up.  A  curious  incident  of  this  trip  is 
the  fact  that  we  crossed  on  the  old  ferryboat 
"  Commodore  Barney,"  built  in  1857  for  pas- 
senger service  between  New  York  and  Brook- 
lyn. It  was  transposed  during  the  civil  war, 
so  the  story  runs,  into  a  mushroom  gunboat 
and  stationed  somewhere  near  Norfolk,  Va. 
It  was  used  also  as  a  transport,  and  five  years 
ago  it  took  the  trip  south.  On  our  left,  tied 
up  to  wharves,  were  the  filibusters  "  Three 
Friends  "  and  "  Dauntless,"  both  of  which  did 
about  as  much  toward  bringing  on  the  war 
as  anything  else.  On  the  east  side  of  the 
river  were  two  wrecks,  one  a  ferryboat,  the 


other  a  sloop,  both  of  which  have  been  laying 
there  for  years  and  apparently  in  pretty  good 
condition  yet,  typical  of  the  want  of  energy 
to  build  up  and  prosper  in  spite  of  obstacles 
so  often  seen  in  the  far  south. 

We  were  loaded  on  lumber  cars.  The 
smoke  from  the  engine  nearly  suffocated  us 
as  we  shifted  in  our  seats  to  relieve  ourselves 
from  the  rocking  and  jolting  we  got  from  the 
uneven  tracks  and  springless  cars.  We 
covered  the  seventeen  miles  in  about  forty- 
five  minutes.  This  included  stops  to  take  on 
wood  for  the  engine.  This  stopping  for  wood 
must  always  be  included  in  the  time  of  travel- 
ing on  the  railroads  of  the  Black  belt,  and  it 
never  failed  to  bring  forth  bright  comments 
and  jests  from  the  boys,  who  found  a  great 
deal  of  amusement  in  it.  We  arrived  safe  and 
sound.  It  was  this  trip,  however,  that  com- 
pletely broke  me  down  and  I  reported  at  the 
hospital  soon  after  our  arrival. 

That  night  demons,  snakes  and  alligators 
lurked  in  every  corner.  Fortunately  my 
efforts  at  dislodging  them  threw  me  into  a 
drenching  perspiration,  which  broke  up  the 


112 

high  fever,  after  which  I  felt  better.  I  was 
off  duty  for  five  days  and  afterwards  enjoyed 
our  stay  at  this  place.  The  salt  air  brought 
out  all  the  evil  fevers  which  had  gotten  into 
our  systems  at  Jacksonville  and  soon  not  forty 
men  out  of  one  hundred  answered  the  roll. 
The  duty  was  light,  but  we  often  found  it 
necessary  at  times  to  appeal  to  the  other  com- 
panies on  duty  with  us  to  help  us  out,  so 
that  some  of  our  men  should  not  go  on  duty 
two  days  in  succession.  We  were  particularly 
short  in  our  non-commissioned  officers.  Out 
of  six  Sergeants  and  ten  Corporals  only 
Sergeant  Baxter  and  myself  were  available  for 
a  whole  week,  Corporal  Rusk  having  charge 
of  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  the  rest 
being  either  sick  or  on  furlough.  A  great 
many  of  our  friends  have  been  in  hospitals, 
but  have  any  of  them  seen  the  effects  of 
typhoid  after  the  most  rigorous  measures 
have  been  taken?  Over  four  hundred  men 
were  at  a  convalescent  hospital  near  the  beach 
and  they  were  in  all  stages  of  recovery.  A 
few  did  not  get  well.  On  the  ground  floor 
were  men  who  had  fought  the  malady  suffi- 


ciently  to  walk  around  and  fold  up  their  mat- 
tresses every  morning.  The  floor  space  these 
occupied  was  needed  in  the  day  time.  At 
every  meal  nourishing  food  was  served  and 
nearly  two  hundred  young  men  stood  in  line, 
some  with  camp  stools  to  rest  upon  every  few 
steps.  Oatmeal,  rice  and  soups  formed  the 
principal  diet,  varied  sometimes  on  Sunday  by 
something  more  solid.  But  it  was  the  general 
appearance  of  the  poor  fellows  that  sent  a 
wave  of  sadness  over  me.  "Who  knows,"  said 
I,  "but  I  may  be  like  one  of  these  myself  some 
day."  These  invalids  were  improving,  however, 
But  upstairs,  the  more  recent  arrivals  were 
lying  upon  cots,  helpless,  gazing  into  space, 
their  teeth  showing  between  bands  of  white 
skin  once  full  red  lips,  a  wasted  arm  thrust  out 
with  the  flesh  between  the  bones  shrunken. 
A  terrible  sight.  The  boys  who  so  bravely 
marched  to  war  wanted  now  only  to  see  the 
dear  home  once  more. 

The  food  issued  to  the  company  at  this  time 
was  about  the  same  as  it  had  always  been,  but 
once  or  twice  a  day  we  were  sure  of  some 
combination  of  the  coarse  food  that  would 


H4 

astonish  and  delight  us,  thanks  to  the  skill 
of  a  competent  black  cook,  Bob  by  name,  who 
had  seen  considerable  service  on  board  tugs 
and  other  craft  around  the  city  of  Jacksonville, 
and  also  to  the  tireless  persistent  devotion  to 
his  duty  of  our  Quartermaster,  who  succeeded 
in  obtaining  oat  meal,  sugar,  raisins  and  other 
things  not  on  Uncle  Sam's  bill  of  fare.  Oat 
meal  and  milk,  which  savored  of  our  northern 
homes,  was  furnished  to  the  sick  of  the  com- 
pany. 

After  the  first  two  weeks  at  this  camp  those 
who  had  been  in  the  hospital  and  those  who 
had  withstood  the  fever  so  far  began  to 
brighten  and  to  gain  strength  and  they  con- 
tinued to  do  so  until  we  started  for  home, 
and  also  because  of  two  conditions — our  posi- 
tion at  the  seashore  and  our  well  cooked  food. 
The  morning  after  our  arrival  we  were  struck 
with  consternation  on  hearing  of  Corporal 
George  H.  Roe's  death  at  Jacksonville.  His 
was  a  serious  case  when  he  was  taken  from 
camp  and  we  heard  no  encouraging  news 
from  him;  but  nevertheless  when  the  message 
reached  us  it  was  quite  a  shock.  He  was 


H5 

Senior  Corporal  in  the  Company  and  was  ex- 
tremely popular.  His  body  was  sent  to  his 
home  in  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  where  it  was  met  by 
a  bereaved  mother  and  carefully  laid  away 
near  the  side  of  his  father. 

Two  days  after  the  death  of  Corporal  Roe 
occurred  the  tragic  death   of  Private   Peter 
Reddy  by  drowning  in  the  surf.     He  evidently 
got   beyond   his    depth   and   was   caught   in 
an   undertow   which   speedily   exhausted   his 
strength.     Private  John   B.   Buck,  of   Com- 
pany   B,    Second   Alabama,    seeing    Reddy's 
danger,  immediately  swam  out  to  his^  assist- 
ance   and    after    an    heroic    struggle    finally 
brought  him,  already  dead,  within  reach  of 
willing  hands.     But  all  the  efforts  at  resus- 
citating him  were  unavailing  and  the  surgeon 
pronounced  him   dead.     Not  being  satisfied 
with  this  official  announcement,  his  comrades 
carried  him  to  the  company  street  and  worked 
over   him   for   nearly   an   hour,  but   without 
result.     He   left   at   home   a  wife   and  three 
young  children.     The  Company  felt  these  two 
deaths  severely.     We  had  now  lost  five  men 
from  the  ranks.     Men  were  going  to  the  hos- 


n6 

pital  daily,  and  we  wondered  on  whom  the 
lightning  would  next  fall. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  gloom  suddenly  ap- 
peared the  commission  appointed  by  the 
Governor  to  investigate  the  condition  of  the 
Second  and  its  willingness  and  fitness  to  pro- 
ceed to  Cuba.  This  commission  was  com- 
posed of  Gen.  Bird  W.  Spencer,  Inspector 
General  of  Rifle  Practice  State  of  New  Jersey, 
Senator  William  M.  Johnson,  and  ex-Judge 
James  M.  Van  Valen.  General  Spencer 
polled  the  nine  companies  at  Jacksonville 
camp  and  the  one  on  provost  guard  in  the  city ; 
Senator  Johnson,  Company  G,  in  charge  of 
the  rifle  range,  and  Judge  Van  Valen,  our 
Company  at  the  seashore.  I  was  delighted 
to  be  recognized  by  the  Judge  as  the  son  of 
a  once  close  friend  of  his.  The  result  of  the 
poll  determined  the  Governor  to  petition  the 
War  Department  to  have  our  Regiment  mus- 
tered out. 


PART  SIXTH 


QEPTEMBER  2d  the  Regiment  moved 
down  and  occupied  the  ground  to  the 
south  of  us  about  one  mile  and  one 
hundred  yards  from  the  ocean.  The  ground 
was  covered  with  scrub  palmettos,  the  roots 
of  which  ran  all  over  the  ground.  This  neces- 
sitated considerable  axe  work  before  tents 
could  be  pitched,  and  it  was  late  in  the  even- 
ing when  the  camp  was  finally  in  a  condition 
to  sleep.  Rattlesnakes  seemed  all  too  plenti- 
ful in  this  scrub  and  boldly  invaded  the  camp. 
One  careless  young  man  crawled  into  his 
tent  without  first  exploring  its  interior  and 
was  badly  bitten  by  one  of  these  horrible 
reptiles.  The  idea  of  sleeping  amongst  such 
bedfellows  was  anything  but  pleasant,  and 
the  weather  now  becoming  stormy  and  cooler, 
the  danger  from  the  snakes  increased,  for 
they  had  a  natural  tendency  to  seek  the 
warmth  which  they  could  find  alongside  a 


120 

sleeping  body.  Before  we  left  other  regiments 
camped  to  the  south  of  our  Regiment,  notably 
Colonel  Bryan's  Nebraskan. 

A  favorable  pastime  of  the  boys  was  to  go 
out  to  the  beach  at  daylight  for  a  swim  in  the 
surf  and  incidentally  gather  the  pretty  delicate 
ribbed  shells,  which  seemed  to. reflect  all  the 
rays  of  the  rising  sun,  which  here  shone  out 
in  all  its  glory.  This  King  of  Day  made  a 
most  gorgeous  picture,  such  as  I  had  believed 
existed  only  in  an  artist's  very  elastic  imagina- 
tion. His  golden  shafts  of  beauty  will  never 
fade  from  my  memory.  We  made  quite  a  col- 
lection of  shells  and  sent  them  home.  There 
were  two  vacancies  among  the  Corporals 
owing  to  the  deaths  of  Roe  and  Cohen. 
Charles  H.  Wallis  and  Ed  W.  Killmer  were 
appointed  to  fill  those  positions. 

One  evening,  some  time  after  taps  had 
sounded  and  just  as  the  boys  had  begun  to 
have  a  drowsy  feeling  that  sleeping  on  pine 
boards  wasn't  so  very  bad  after  all,  a  con- 
siderable commotion  was  raised  in  camp  by 
the  cry  of  fire.  We  hurriedly  kicked  off  our 
blankets,  gave  a  hitch  or  two  to  our  trousers 


121 

to  keep  them  on,  and  then  sallied  out.  One 
of  the  four  frame  houses  at  the  north  edge 
of  our  camp  was  on  fire.  These  houses  were 
built  of  only  one  thickness  of  board,  having 
no  plaster  or  lath.  Standing  in  front  and 
looking  sharp,  one  could  see  pigs  rooting 
behind  the  house.  The  building  was  like 
tinder  and  burned  fiercely. 

As  we  passed  the  quarters  of  the  company 
of  Texans  who  were  on  guard  with  us,  their 
bugler  \vas  trying  to  blow  his  head  off  with  a 
lot  of  weird,  shrill  blasts,  which  their  Captain 
kindly  explained  in  forcible  language  was  the 
"  fire-call,"  and  he'd  be  so  and  so  if  he 
wouldn't  court-martial  every  son  of  a  Texan 
if  they  didn't  fall  in  and  obey  orders.  There 
was  considerable  confusion  around  the  house 
ior  a  while,  but  the  soldiers  soon  got  to  work 
under  the  leadership  of  the  officers.  Mem- 
bers of  our  Company  climbed  up  the  front 
porch  and  to  the  roof  of  the  adjoining  house, 
not  thirty  feet  away,  and  sat  there  for  over  an 
liour  wetting  the  roof  and  sides,  while  the 
steam  floated  around  them.  During  the  con- 
flagration the  half  wild  hogs  and  their  litters 


122 

would  run  up  close  to  the  flames,  stare 
stupidly  into  the  cauldron  until  it  became  too 
hot  for  them,  when  they  would  scamper  away,, 
grunting  and  squealing,  into  the  brush.  The 
house  burned  completely  up,  for  not  a  stick 
was  visible  after  it  died  out. 

At  this  time  we  received  word  that  the 
Regiment  was  to  be  mustered  out,  and  a 
Regular  Army  officer  who  had  been  detailed 
to  our  Regiment  ordered  us  to  prepare  our 
books  for  transmission  to  the  War  Depart- 
ment. This  writing  up  of  the  records  was  a 
complete  revelation  to  the  companies.  Not 
one  in  the  Regiment  had  made  any  successful 
attempt  to  keep  the  books  properly.  G  Com- 
pany probably  came  the  nearest  to  it,  and 
theirs  were  the  first  to  be  O  K'd.  But  it 
was  over  two  weeks  after  the  order  was  issued 
before  the  mustering  officers  could  state  just 
when  the  Regiment  could  start  for  home. 

The  final  week  proved  a  busy  one  indeed 
and  the  patience  of  the  clerical  force  of  the 
Regiment  was  tried  sorely.  Sergeant  Bax- 
ter, Private  Stevens  and  myself  were  detailed 
for  this  work,  and  we  kept  at  it  every  day 


123 

and  sometimes  far  into  the  night.  No  in- 
structions other  than  verbal  had  been  given 
to  start  the  machinery  in  motion.  Nobody 
seemed  to  know  just  what  should  be  done. 
Tedious  work  performed  with  care  had  to  be 
done  over  again.  Missing  orders,  letters 
and  other  documents  had  to  be  accounted  for 
and  records  which  could  not  be  procured  had 
to  have  affidavits  made  out  to  that  effect. 

When  the  men  of  the  National  Guard  were 
mustered  into  service  they  had  the  uniform 
given  them  by  the  State,  which  in  some  in- 
stances had  been  worn  over  four  years.  They 
also  received  at  Sea  Girt  new  suits  of  State 
uniforms  to  replace  old  ones  and  got  them 
with  the  understanding  that  the  State  would 
not  charge  for  them.  In  one  or  two  instances 
clothes  were  torn  to  get  a  new  suit.  Now  the 
United  States  charges  these  same  National 
Guardmen  for  two  suits  of  clothes — the  suit 
which  had  been  worn  four  years  and  the  new 
one  which  did  not  fit,  and  in  many  cases  had 
never  been  worn.  The  total  amount  charged 
us  by  the  Government  was  over  twenty-one 
dollars  and  this  amount  was  deducted  from 


124 

each  soldier's  clothing'  allowance  in  the  last 
payment. 

The  final  order  for  striking  tents  was  re- 
ceived on  the  2oth  of  September,  and  day- 
light of  the  22d  found  us  all  ready  to  throw 
the  tents,  strap  on  our  knapsicks  and  start 
home.  The  tents  and  baggage  of  the  Com- 
pany had  to  be  loaded  on  flat  cars.  To  do 
this  a  car  of  lumber  had  to  be  unloaded.  It 
belonged  to  Colonel  Bryan's  Regiment  and 
his  men  were  going  at  the  unloading  in  such 
a  matter  of  fact  way  as  to  exasperate  Lieu- 
tenant Blake,  and  at  his  order  a  dozen  of  our 
boys  jumped  on  the  load  and  commenced  to 
get  rid  of  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  open  the  eyes 
of  the  Nebraskans.  They  were  roundly 
chafed  by  their  Lieutenant  "  for  allowing  a 
lot  of  Jerseymen  to  put  you  to  sleep  in  un- 
loading lumber,  you  who  have  handled  it  all 
your  lives." 

After  this  was  completed  the  Company's 
luggage  was  packed  away  solidly  upon  this 
car  and  we  were  called  into  company  forma- 
tion ready  for  the  train ;  but  the  railroad  could 
only  take  one  battalion  at  a  time  and  it  was 


125 


after  i  o'clock  before  we  could  get  started. 
The  train  had  passed  through  a  heavy  shower 
and  the  floors  of  each  car  and  the  wooden 
bottoms  to  the  seats  were  deep  in  water  which 
had  come  in  at  the  open  windows.  A  heavy 
shower  drenched  us  as  we  marched  through 
Jacksonville.  The  boys  received  hearty  hand- 
shakes from  the  friends  they  had  made. 

We  were  worrying  about  our  wet  blankets, 
which  were  strapped  on  top  of  our  knapsacks, 
when  we  were  ushered  into  Pullman  sleeping 
coaches.  It  was  an  agreeable  surprise  and 
we  immediately  proceeded  to  ensconce  our- 
selves in  the  most  comfortable  positions.  In 
a  short  time,  amid  a  lot  of  noise  and  banging 
of  cartridges,  we  drew  out  of  the  depot,  scur- 
ried out  past  camps  and  through  groves, 
catching  a  glimpse  of  Torrey's  rough  riders, 
with  whom  we  had  left  one  of  our  number, 
out  over  rushing  torrents,  swelled  to  over- 
flowing by  the  recent  rains  and  covering  vast 
areas  with  their  yellow  tumbling  waters. 

These  we  passed  cautiously  for  fear  of  wash- 
outs. As  we  passed  to  the  rear  of  Savannah 
it  grew  dark;  but  sitting  musing  at  the 


126 

window  I  could  not  help  noting  the  wild, 
desolate  region  we  were  passing  through. 
Here  and  there  stood  some  giant  tree  stark 
naked  in  the  moonlight  and  swaying  from  the 
branches,  with  gruesome  effect,  was  that  re- 
markable product  of  nature,  Spanish  or 
Florida  moss,  and  I  could  not  help  recalling 
the  shuddering  stories  told  by  Sherman's 
troopers  of  ghosts  and  dead  men,  clanking 
chains  and  bloodhounds  of  the  Southern 
forest.  The  palmettos  reared  their  shaggy 
heads  in  outline  against  the  sky,  for  all  the 
world  like  a  jack-in-the-box  of  our  childhood 
days ;  but  I  was  here  interrupted  by  my  bed- 
fellow, who  insisted  on  my  turning  in,  which 
I  reluctantly  did.  But  wasn't  it  jolly  to  lay 
on  something  softer  than  a  plank?  And  after 
being  served  with  our  old  stand-by,  coffee, 
from  a  bathtub,  we  slept  soundly. 

We  passed  through  Columbia,  South 
Carolina,  due  north  to  Charlotte,  North 
Carolina,  and  Salisbury,  Greensboro,  to  Dan- 
ville, Virginia,  places  made  historic  by  Sher- 
man and  after  the  surrender  at  Appomattox. 
We  stopped  nearly  an  hour  at  Danville,  and 


127 

when  we  finally  started  again  had  a  goodly 
stock  of  everything  to  eat.  Up  to  this  point 
we  had  passed  acres  of  cotton  in  bloom,  that 
farther  south  being  taller  and  handsomer 
plants,  and  every  stop  brought  portions  of  the 
royal  plant  of  the  South  into  the  cars.  In  the 
early  days  of  the  Civil  War  the  triumphant 
voice  of  the  Confederacy  proclaimed  "  King1 
Cotton  rules  the  earth."  But  before  that 
strife  of  brothers  ended  the  thunderous  tones 
of  the  North  drowned  that  in  the  South  with 
"  Corn,  not  Cotton,  is  King,"  and  verily  it 
proved  so. 

Lynchburg  and  Charlotteville,  Virginia, 
ushered  us  into  the  tobacco  district.  But  we 
saw  very  little  of  this  plant,  for  it  had  just 
"been  gathered.  Darkness  settled  down  on  us 
before  reaching  the  latter  town.  Coffee 
awaited  us  there,  and  we  were  roused  up  at  10 
o'clock  to  receive  it  in  its  virgin  liquid  purity. 
Nearly  half  the  car  as  a  result  was  awake  all 
the  rest  of  the  night.  At  4  a.  m.  on  Saturday, 
we  reached  Washington  and  were  greatly 
surprised  and  pleased  to  find  that  a  bountiful 
lunch  had  been  prepared  for  us  by  the  good 


128 

and  thoughtful  women  of  the  Pension 
Bureau — grapes,  apples,  sandwiches  and  the 
best  coffee  we  had  had  for  five  months.  There 
will  always  remain  in  years  to  come  one  warm 
spot  in  the  heart  of  each  one  of  our  boys  for 
the  patriotic  devotion  of  these  excellent 
women. 

But  now  came  a  kaleidoscopic  change.  In- 
stead of  indifferently  cultivated  fields,  barren 
wastes  and  swamps,  behold  here  were  fields 
teeming  with  corn  and  garden  truck  of  all 
kinds.  The  farmers  were  out  with  their  men 
hilling  up  the  rows  of  celery,  parsley  and 
onions;  fine  pasture  lands  spread  out  before 
us;  well  fed  cattle  standing  contentedly  un- 
der drooping  willows,  and,  to  crown  all,, 
well  built,  substantial  farm  houses  and  barns, 
all  denoted  with  an  unmistakable  stamp 
that  which  can  be  seen  all  through  our 
Northern  states — prosperity.  Baltimore  was 
reached  at  7,  Wilmington  at  8,  and  Philadel- 
phia at  about  10  in  the  morning. 

From  Washington  we  had  the  extreme 
pleasure  of  going  real  fast,  our  train  now  run- 
ning over  the  double  tracks  of  the  Pennsyl- 


129 

vania  Railroad.  Speculation  was  rife  as  to 
when  we  would  reach  Sea  Girt.  Every  stop 
or  slow  down  would  surely  bring  forth  an 
impatient  exclamation,  and  then  wagers  would 
be  made  all  over  again.  But  while  this  was 
going  on  we  passed  over  the  Delaware,  and  as 
the  Jersey  side  was  reached  the  enthusiasm 
vented  itself  in  cheers,  as  we  fully  realized  how 
near  we  were  to  home,  and  then  how  we  did 
make  time.  We  fairly  seemed  to  fly,  but  it 
was  all  too  slow,  past  farming  lands  one  acre 
of  which  was  worth  a  dozen  in  the  South; 
apple  trees  loaded  with  ripe  fruit;  fields  of 
corn  ready  for  the  sickle,  yellow  pumpkins, 
savoring  of  delicious  pies;  these  were  familiar 
home  scenes,  but  temporarily  lost  sight  of  in 
our  recent  surroundings;  past  historic  New 
Brunswick,  Freehold  and  Princeton.  At 
about  1.30  we  pulled  into  Manasquan  with 
Camp  Voorhees  in  plain  sight.  Here  we  un- 
loaded and,  escorted  by  the  Fourth  Regiment 
Band,  marched  to  camp,  where  Company  L 
was  taken  in  tow  by  Company  L  of  the 
Fourth,  and  so  on  through  the  battalion.  But 
it  was  a  sight  to  see  the  fine  rosy  potatoes 


130 

they  had  and  the  butter,  "  all  you  want  on 
your  bread."  We  marveled  greatly,  to  say 
the  least.  This  lunch  was  quickly  over,  and 
we  boarded  our  section  again.  After  several 
tedious  waits  we  finally  reached  Rutherford  a 
little  before  7  in  the  evening,  amid  red  fire  and 
exploding  crackers. 

Through  a  dense  mass  of  humanity  the 
company  marched.  The  scenes  attending  our 
leaving  for  the  war  were  again  enacted,  but 
with  three-fold  vigor.  Our  relatives  and 
friends  struggled  desperately  to  break  through 
and  forcibly  grasp  some  husband,  brother  or 
son,  and  failing  in  this,  would  hysterically  call 
out.  Some  were  weeping,  some  were  laugh- 
ing, but  it  was  all  joy  unalloyed.  Our  drill 
and  discipline  told  to  advantage  here,  and  we 
succeeded  in  keeping  our  line,  otherwise  we 
would  have  been  scrattered  to  the  winds. 

We  were  formally  welcomed  back  by  Mayor 
Turner,  representing  the  people  of  Ruther- 
ford and  surrounding  towns,  and  invited  to 
partake  of  a  banquet  in  the  near  future.  Lieu- 
tenant Blake  now  saw  that  it  was  useless  to 
try  and  hold  the  men  together  longer,  so  the 


final  command  to  break  ranks  was  given  and 
then  every  man  "  Tommy  "  of  us  was  hugged 
as  he  had  never  been  hugged  before.  One 
week  later  the  company  assembled  at  Sea  Girt 
and  there  received  their  furloughs,  which  held 
good  until  the  final  muster  out  at  Paterson, 
November  21, 


The  month  of  May,  1898,  had  not  passed 
before  relief  committees  had  organized  for  the 
purpose  of  looking  after  the  families  of  those 
soldiers  of  the  National  Guard  who  decided 
that  their  duty  to  the  State  and  the  country 
demanded  their  presence  at  the  front,  and  little 
ones  at  home  were  left  without  a  bread  winner 
and  protector. 

The  members  of  this  Relief  Committee  were 
Mayor  E.  J.  Turner  of  Rutherford,  Mayor 
William  McKenzie  of  East  Rutherford,  Rev. 
J.  Y.  Hubach,  and  Messrs.  Charles  Burrows, 
Oscar  Gunz,  William  H.  Smith,  James  Ley- 
land,  Cornelius  Collins,  Edward  A.  Jeanneret, 
James  A.  Morgan,  William  H.  Taylor  and 
P.  B.  S.  Hodges.  This  committee  received  a 
total  of  $1,218.64,  all  of  which  was  spent  in 
the  good  cause. 


132 

Sunday,  July  loth,  a  Service  of  Thanksgiv- 
ing took  place  at  Grace  Episcopal  Church. 
Special  prayers  were  offered  for  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  and  sailors,  and  for  those 
who  mourned  dead  heroes.  It  was  in  accord- 
ance with  the  proclamation  issued  by  the 
President,  and  the  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Henry 
M.  Ladd,  was  along  National  lines,  emphasiz- 
ing the  duties  of  the  Christian  soldier.  After 
the  presentation  of  the  offering,  the  congrega- 
tion and  clergyman  read  antiphonally  the 
psalm  for  thanksgiving  after  a  naval  victory, 
singing  at  its  close  the  "  Gloria  in  Excelsis." 
The  service  closed  with  the  prayer  of  thanks 
for  victory  at  sea,  and  a  prayer  for  peace,  fol- 
lowed by  the  Benediction. 

It  was  a  stirring  service,  and  to  have  taken 
part  in  it  was  the  event  of  a  lifetime,  and  not 
likely  to  be  repeated.  Services  of  like  nature 
were  held  in  all  the  churches. 

Tuesday  evening,  July  26th,  a  number  of 
kindly  volunteers,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Relief  Committee,  gave  an  entertainment  in 
the  Armory,  which  netted  about  $150.  It  was 
an  excellent  one,  combining  serio-comic 


133 

drama  with  highly  cultured  singing  and  pleas- 
ing tableaux.  The  names  of  these  devoted 
friends  were  as  follows :  "  A  Quiet  Family," 
Messrs.  George  H.  Whitman,  James  A.  Mor- 
gan, Mrs.  Mary  Davis,  Miss  Lizzie  Davis; 
orchestra,  Mr.  Louis  Baxter  and  others ;  Grace 
Church  choir,  Mr.  Charles  H.  Sunderland, 
leader,  Mrs.  T.  N.  Glover,  Mrs.  McAvoy,  Mrs. 
Sunderland,  the  Misses  D.  Stevens,  B.  Stev- 
ens, Fanton,  Williams,  Reece,  Johnstone, 
Smith,  Elliott,  Semken,  Cosse  and  Haywood, 
and  Messrs.  Douglass,  Barrows,  Elliott,  Mac- 
Adee,  Parker,  Critchley,  Ahrens,  Burns, 
Brown,  Green,  Shaw  and  Wilkins;  tableaux: 
Miss  Maude  MacHarg,  Mr.  Wilken  Book- 
staver  and  the  rest  of  the  company. 

Another  entertainment  took  place  Thurs- 
day, July  28,  which  was  very  successful,  the 
net  proceeds  being  $91,  and  was  sent  to  Jack- 
sonville to  provide  better  food  for  the  sick  of 
the  company.  The  entertainment  was  man- 
aged by  Mrs.  W.  E.  Fullagar,  who  took  con- 
siderable interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  com- 
pany (she  and  her  husband  being  with  us  at 
Jacksonville  and  Pablo  Beach  for  nearly  a 


134 

month).  Those  taking  part  deserve  to  have  a 
place  in  this  narrative,  and  they  follow:  Mrs. 
M.  Casta,  Mr.  Louis  Baxter,  Miss  Mae  Games 
Amery,  Mr.  L.  Botting,  Miss  Nettie  Dann« 
heim,  Mr.  Arthur  H.  Hargrave,  the  Concordia 
Maennerchor  of  Carlstadt,  Miss  Mabel  Taylor 
King,  and  six  members  of  the  Kirmess  "Horn- 
pipe Dance."  Captain  Ely,  home  on  furlough, 
told  anecdotes  of  camp  life,  which  were  very 
interesting.  Another  entertainment  took 
place  the  week  we  arrived  home,  the  proceeds 
of  which  were  given  to  the  Relief  Committee. 

One  year  had  passed  when  the  company 
again  assembled  upon  the  anniversary  of  its 
return  from  camp  life;  old  friendships  were 
renewed,  and  yarns  spun,  while  the  good 
things  disappeared  at  the  well-spread  table. 

September  3Oth,  1899,  the  company  paraded 
through  the  streets  of  New  York  on  the  oc- 
casion of  the  welcome  to  Admiral  George 
Dewey,  and  all  along  the  line  patriotic  citizens 
gave  its  enthusiastic  endorsement  of  the  manly 
devotion  to  the  flag  which  L  Company  main- 
tained through  five  months  of  trying  camp- 
life  in  Southern  climes. 


PART  SEVENTH 


ROSTER  OF  L  COMPANY, 

CAPTAIN. 

P.  0.  Address. 
Addison  Ely Rutherford,  N.  J. 

FIRST  LIEUTENANT. 

Joseph  J.  Blake Rutherford. 

SECOND   LIEUTENANT. 

Robert  A.  Brunner Rutherford. 

FIRST  SERGEANT. 

Edward  M.  Clift Rutherford. 

QUARTERMASTER   SERGEANT. 

Addison  Ely,  Jr Rutherford. 

SERGEANTS. 

Charles  Dabinett Rutherford. 

Frank  Van  Roden Rutherford. 

John  T.  Collins Rutherford. 

Frederick  W.  Baxter Rutherford. 

CORPORALS. 

George  H.  Roe Rutherford. 

Hugh  R.  Rusk Rutherford. 

Bennet  Cohen; Rutherford. 

George  W.  Petty Rutherford. 

William  M.  Cormack Rutherford. 

Robert  A.  Burgess Rutherford. 

Frank  Koch Rutherford. 

Harry  C.  Harrington Rutherford. 

Walter  Vandenburgh Rutherford. 

John  Festanau Rutherford. 

Walter  S.  Major Rutherford. 

Frank  T.  Yerreance. .  ..Rutherford. 


138 

MUSICIANS. 

P.  O.  Address. 

John  F.  Quinn Paterson. 

William  Allen Paterson. 

ARTIFICER. 

Julius  W.  Doerflinger Woodridge, 

WAGONER. 

William  Jonsen Rutherford. 

PRIVATES. 

Alverson,  August Rutherford. 

Balletto,  Frank Rutherford. 

Baxter,  Charles  H Rutherford. 

Brazer,  William Rutherford. 

Beutelspacher,  Theodore Carlstadt. 

Clift,  George  S Passaic. 

Clark,  John  E Rutherford. 

Craig,  Robert  L Little  Ferry. 

Crear,  Lyman  S Rutherford. 

Connelly,  John Rutherford. 

Dabinett,  John Rutherford. 

Dabinett,  Henry  R Rutherford. 

Dehn,  Lawrence  C Lyndhurst. 

Doyle,  Thomas  W Rutherford. 

DeWitt,  William Rutherford. 

Earley,  Albert Paterson. 

Fake,  Guy  L Rutherford. 

Fullagar,  John  E Rutherford. 

Feder,  David Paterson. 

Gaffney,  Peter Rutherford. 

Gillen,  Alexander  P Washington,  D.  C. 

Girard,  Emile  L Rutherford. 


139 

P.  O.  Address. 

Gretiter,  Valentine Woodridge. 

Greuter,  Frank  J Rutherford. 

Hey,  Alfred  J Rutherford. 

Hannon,  Thomas  O Paterson. 

Heintzman,  Louis  E Rutherford. 

Hollenstein,  George  W Carlstadt. 

Hope,  Edward  F Rutherford. 

Hobson,  Winfield  B Paterson. 

Hollenbeck,   Charles Rutherford. 

Hopper,  Irving Rutherford. 

Horton,  Jay  T Paterson. 

Huen,  Henry  A Paterson. 

Kotzenberg,  John  J Rutherford. 

Kellerman,    Otto Rutherford. 

Killmer,  Edward  W Rutherford. 

Kent,  Walter  D Rutherford. 

Lees,  William  C Jersey  City. 

Major,  Daniel Rutherford. 

Miller,  John  W Rutherford. 

Miller,  William  H Rutherford. 

Miller,  James  A Rutherford. 

MacDonough,  Thomas Rutherford. 

Macher,  Walter Carlstadt. 

McKeown,  James  F Paterson. 

Mclntyre,  Thomas Kingsland. 

McBride,  William  H Paterson. 

Newman,   Henry Paterson. 

Newland,  Charles  W Rutherford. 

Nohrden,  Otto Rutherford. 

O'Niel,  William  H Rutherford, 

Parkhill,  John Carlton  Hill. 


140 

P.  O.  Address. 

Platz,   Henry Carlstadt. 

Reddy,    Peter Rutherford. 

Rhoads,  Henry  W Carlton  Hill. 

Rodgers,   Robert Paterson. 

Rohrbach,    Aaron Rutherford. 

Ratsch,    John Rutherford. 

Schrieber,  Curt Rutherford. 

Schrieber,  John  J Rutherford. 

Schaefer,    Louis Carlstadt. 

Schulz,  Otto Carlstadt. 

Smith,    John Rutherford. 

Smith,  Walter  F Rutherford. 

Smith,    Gustav Rutherford. 

Stephens,  John  J Carlton  Hill. 

Stephens,  J i Carlstadt. 

Stevens,  Arthur  W Rutherford. 

Stevens,  Frank  W Hasbrouck  Heights. 

Toense,  Albert Rutherford. 

Thompson,  Matthew Rutherford. 

Trent,  Decatur Rutherford. 

Van  Roden,  Arthur  C Rutherford. 

Van  Caders,  Cornelius Hackensack. 

Van  Austinbridge,  Nicholas .Paterson. 

Ward,  George  E Rutherford. 

Wallis,  Charles  H Rutherford. 

Weber/  Oscar Carlstadt. 

Willis,  Edgar  E Rutherford. 

Willis,  Joseph  T Rutherford. 

Wirtz,  William Paterson. 

Wilson,  Isaac,  Jr Rutherford. 

Yetter,  Conrad Carlstadt. 


PROMOTIONS,   TRANSFERS,   ETC. 

Captain  Ely,  Provost  Marshal,  City  of  Jack- 
sonville. 

Sergeant  Ely,  Brigade  Color-Sergeant. 

Sergeant    Collins,    Regimental    Color-Ser- 
geant. 

Corporal    Vandenburgh,    Clerk    at    Corps 
Headquarters. 

Private  Alverson,  promoted  to  be  Artificer, 
vice  Doerflinger,  reduced  at  his  own  request. 

Private  Baxter,  discharged  for  disability. 

Private  Crear,  transferred  to  Troop  B,  2d 
U.  S.  Vol.  Cavalry. 

Private  Doyle,  Clerk  to  Provost  Marshal. 

Private   Gillen,   transferred   to   hospital   at 
Washington,  D.  C. 

Private  Greuter,  Corral  Master  with  rank 
of  Lance  Corporal. 

Private  Hild,  transferred  to  Hospital  Corps, 
U.  S.  Army. 

Private   Horton,    stenographer,   Adjutant's 
office. 

Private  Kent,  transferred  to  Hospital  Corps, 
U.  S.  Army. 


142 

Private  Killmer,  promoted  to  be  Corporal, 
September  I,  1898. 

Private    Linzell,    transferred    to    Hospital 
Corps,  U.  S.  Army. 

Private    Schmidt,    transferred    to    Hospital 
Corps,  U.  S.  Army. 

Private  F.  M.  Stevens,  transferred  to  Hos- 
pital Corps,  U.  S.  Army. 

Private  Wallis,  promoted  to  be  Corporal, 
September  I,  1898. 


DEATHS. 

Private  Kotzenberg,  died  August  12,  1898, 
at  Second  Division  Hospital,  Jacksonville, 
Fla.,  typhoid  fever.  Buried  at  Carlstadt. 

Private  Newman,  died  August  18,  1898,  at 
Second  Division  Hospital,  Jacksonville,  Fla., 
typhoid  fever.  Buried  at  Paterson. 

Corporal  Cohen,  died  August  19,  1898,  at 
Second  Division  Hospital,  Jacksonville,  Fla., 
typhoid  fever.  Buried  at  Carlstadt. 

Corporal  Roe,  died  August  26,  1898,  at 
Second  Division  Hospital,  Jacksonville,  Fla., 
typhoid  fever.  Buried  at  Auburn,  N.  Y. 

Private  Reddy,  drowned  August  29,  1898, 
at  Pablo  Beach,  Fla.  Buried  at  Lyndhurst, 
N.  J. 

Lance  Corporal  Frank  Greuter,  died  No- 
vember 7,  1898.  Buried  at  Carlstadt. 

Private  Valentine  Greuter,  died  July  29, 
1899.  Buried  at  Carlstadt. 


"  God  bless  our  native  land 
Firm  may  she  ever  stand 
Through  storm  and  night." 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


Form  L9 — 15m-10,'48(B1039)444 


THE 

OF 

LOS  ANGSaJSS 


A     000  680  733     3 


